US Auto Non Buyin' Rant

For no good reason, instead of a warm, "Hi, thanks for stopping by..." I'll lead this off with something unpleasant from my liberal side.

I don't believe in buying American cars. I believe in the Japs, specifically Honda, Toyota and Subaru.
Why? Two reasons, the first being the quality gap that we all know about. Now, a lot of people argue with me about that, to no avail. I might write about that in the future, right now it's secondary

See, even if the big 3 achieve parity with the Japs on quality, I still will probably not buy their products.
Why? Well, the second reason:
Executive Compensation

U.S. auto executives are grossly, criminally, overpaid.
For example, here's an excerpt about Honda's CEO pay from a Forbes article on Honda from 2006:

"Honda doesn't disclose executive pay in detail, but the sum of salaries and bonuses that Fukui shares with 36 board members, $13 million, is just about enough for the boss at a big American company."

And here's an excerpt from CNN Money on Ford's:

"Struggling Ford Motor Co., which posted a record $12.7 billion net loss in 2006, gave its new CEO Alan Mulally $28 million for four months on the job, according to the company's proxy statement..."

And, though I can't find the article, I remember reading that the CEO of GM is guaranteed a $5 million PENSION no matter what happens to the company.

Ya think any of these rat bastards will cut back on their own benefits, salaries, or pensions to help save the company? Dream on, that's the job of the workers, the executive's job is to increase personal income no matter what the cost to the rest of the world.

OK, so when you plunk down your dollars for an American car, who benefits? The workers? Bullcrap, they are being thrown out on the street and their jobs sourced out of the country. It is the executives who are getting your money, no one else.

Look at the U.S. content in that American Iron you're planning on buying, you may just find that the only thing American in it is the name and maybe the continent.
Now look at the U.S. content in some Jap cars, especially Honda and Toyota. In the end, they are more American than the big 3.

Jeez, I've made this too long, yet I feel I can still go on. I'll get better at this as I go I'm sure.

Thanks for Stopping by. There, I wrote it, I feel better now.