Auto Bloodlines

WHAT IS AN “IMPORTED” CAR? IS IT A JAGUAR XJ-S, MADE IN ENGLAND by Jaguar PLC, a company wholly owned by Ford Motor Co.? How about a Honda Accord that’s manufactured in Ohio by Honda Motor Co. of Japan? Or an Eagle Talon, assembled in Illinois at a factory owned jointly by Chrysler Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which in turn is a Japanese company 12.5% owned by Chrysler?

In the past decade, the distinct lines that once separated “import” and “domestic” vehicles have twisted into a maze of cross-ownerships, joint ventures, parts purchasing contracts and transplanted factories. Even vehicles wholly “made in America” contain imported parts such as wires, radios, steel and electric motors. Worldwide “sourcing” of completed vehicles and components has become the rule rather than the exception for auto companies in the United States as well as Europe and Asia. For example, Fiat S.P.A. of Italy has business arrangements with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors of the United States; Mazda, Nissan, Daihatsu and Fuji of Japan; Peugeot of France; De Tamaso and Pininfarina of Italy; Polmot of Poland; Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Austria, and Zastava of the former Yugoslavia. Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Isuzu, Subaru and Honda operate U.S. assembly plants, making vehicles sold in the United States and even exported to Japan.

Ford, GM and Chrysler do business with 30 other auto companies worldwide. They each operate a U.S. factory with a different Japanese company. The three American firms also have assembly plants in Canada, which, under trade rules, are considered “domestic” plants. Similar U.S.-owned factories in Mexico will attain “domestic” status under the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement. The three companies also buy thousands of vehicles a year from affiliates in Japan and South Korea and sell them through U.S. dealerships.