What’s In YOUR Garage?

One of the most significant casualties of COVID has been my gym membership at AMFAM. Although I’m still paying for that membership, I have not felt comfortable going against my doctor’s strong advice to avoid the place like the plague. So, I have adapted and become a road warrior, putting in roughly 18 miles of walk/run a week along with other exercises designed to keep me south of 200 pounds. When you spend this much time on the streets of your neighborhood, you begin to notice things. Then, if you’re like me, you begin to obsess over the things you notice. For example:

There are roughly 80 homes in Wythe Trace. It is very much a typical Short Pump neighborhood, well trimmed lawns (for the most part), nice homes, and decent people. And cars. Lots of cars. Over the past five months I have begun to notice something about these cars. Finally, the other day, I decided to test my hypothesis by actually counting them. My hypothesis was confirmed and now, lucky for you guys, I am here with the fascinating results. The conclusions I have drawn from the data are solely my own.

Either in the driveway or parked on the street, I counted 152 cars in my neighborhood. This was a typical day, so that number is a reliable one. Almost two per house. Nothing unusual about that, I suppose. But, here’s where it gets interesting, (READER: I sure hope so), I counted cars from 16 different manufacturers. We’ve come a long way since Henry Ford. Here they are in no particular order: Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Suburu, Mercedes, Nissan, Hyundai, BMW, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Cooper, Jaguar, Volvo, VW, and Kia. Of the 152 cars I counted, guess how many were made by American car companies? 35. That means that 77% of the cars purchased by the folks in my neighborhood, were bought from foreign companies. Here’s how it breaks down:

Toyota= 38

Honda= 29

Ford= 17

GM= 13

Nissan= 12

Hyundai= 9

Mercedes= 7

Subaru= 5

Chrysler= 5

VW= 3

Volvo= 3

Mazda= 2

Kia= 2

Cooper= 1

Jaguar= 1

There are a thousand conclusions you could draw from these numbers, proving that old adage that statistics can be bent into any shape to tell the story you wish to tell. Some might look at these numbers and say, “Wow, isn’t it amazing the amount of consumer choice we have courtesy of Globalization!” Others will look at these same numbers and say, “Toyota sells more cars to us than the top three American companies combined!! That’s economic suicide.” Some will see these numbers as exhibit A in the case of why we keep losing manufacturing jobs and the support they give to the middle class. Others will see the same numbers and bemoan the stifling effects of union work rules and contracts that have priced American cars out of the marketplace. Others will say that without globalization, we would be stuck with inferior American-made cars, insisting that we buy so many Toyotas and Hondas because they are better cars! 

What about me, you might ask? I live in Wythe Trace. What’s in my garage? Well, so far in the 35+ years of being married I have purchased a total of eleven cars. Three of them were from foreign companies, a Honda Accord, a Volkswagen Scirocco, and Pam’s current Hyundai. The rest have been American cars and/or SUV’s, including my current Cadillac. I must admit that the national origin of the manufacturer never really entered in to my buying decisions. Besides, in the world we live in things can get complicated. For example, my Cadillac XT5 is a General Motors product, but it was assembled in Shanghai, China with a transmission made in France. Pam’s Hyundai SantaFe? Montgomery, Alabama. So, that whole Buy American thing can be confusing as all get out!

But, what about American jobs?? When I bought my first car, I was 20 years old. Back then, the only foreign made cars I knew anything or cared anything about were the Datsun 240-Z and the Mercedes Benz 450-SL, neither of which I could afford. I liked them because they were hot and fast. What did I buy? A used VW Beetle, which I would probably still be driving today if the floorboard hadn't eventually rusted through. But, 40 years ago, the BIG THREE American companies dominated. Now they don’t. I’m not losing any sleep over it. The way I see it, if they want to regain their place of dominance they need to build better cars. What about American jobs? Which ones? The jobs of the guy at the Hyundai dealership who works in the shop? How about the woman on the assembly line in Montgomery, Alabama who helped put Pam’s SantaFe together? Do those jobs count?

Globalization is a complex and sometimes unsettling thing. There are negatives to everything, winners and losers in every economic upheaval. But honestly, would you rather go back to the days of the Chevy Chevette and the Ford Pinto? Those are examples of the total crap that used to roll off Detroit assembly lines before Toyota and Honda came along.

No thanks.