I had an interesting conversation with my brother last night. I was reading the French Cars thread and he argued that the Bugatti Veyron isn't a French car, it's German, because it was designed by German engineers working for a German company (Volkswagen). This spiraled into a long discussion in which we were unable to find any hard and fast rules governing how one should determine a car's country of origin. It's difficult to do so even on a case-by-case basis. Some factors in this determination include:
1. The country in which the highest level parent company is based (e.g. GM owns Volvo, so the highest level parent company for all Volvos is the United States)
2. The country in which the company is based, regardless of any larger companies that own said company.
3. The country in which the vehicle was designed.
4. The country that produced the vehicle's platform.
5. The country that produced the vehicle's engine.
6. The countries in which the vehicle is sold.
7. The country of origin put forth in the vehicle's marketing materials.
8. The country with which the vehicle is traditionally associated.
We decided that the country in which the vehicle is manufactured is not important, since the Neon was built in Mexico and it's clearly not a Mexican car, and many Toyotas are built in the United States but they're clearly not American cars.
Some of these are easy. The Chevrolet Malibu, for instance, works like this:
1. Parent company is GM (USA).
2. Company is Chevrolet (USA).
3. Designed in the USA.
4. Platform (Epsilon) was designed by GM (USA).
5. Engine (Ecotec) was designed by GM (USA).
6. Vehicle is sold primarily in the USA, though it is sold in other countries as well.
7. The car is marketed as an American car.
8. GM vehicles are traditionally considered to be American.
So the Malibu is an American car, through and through. There are challenges, though. Take the Dodge Charger:
1. Parent company is DaimlerChrysler (half German, half American).
2. Company is Dodge (USA).
3. Designed in the USA.
4. Platform is from an older Mercedes-Benz E-class (Germany).
5. Engine is American.
6. Vehicle is sold primarily in the USA.
7. Car is marketed as being a fusion of American and German engineering.
8. Dodge and Chrysler vehicles are traditionally American.
So what is it? American or German? I'd argue the Charger is an American car... the design and ownership of it seems to be a roughly 50/50 split between the American and German halves, but the traditional association of Chrysler with the United States, along with the fact that it uses a traditional nameplate (Charger and 300 are both very old Chrysler car names) makes me think it's more American than German.
Last one, I promise. The Mazda6.
1. Parent company is Mazda (Japanese; Ford only owns 30% so they are not a parent company).
2. Company is Mazda (Japan).
3. Designed in Japan
4. Platform was designed by Mazda with help from Ford (primarily Japanese).
5. Engines include Mazda-developed I4s and a Ford V6 (Japanese and American).
6. Vehicle is sold in the USA, Europe, Australia, and in Japan as the Atenza.
7. The car is marketed as being Japanese.
8. Mazda is traditionally Japanese.
Is it Japanese? Probably so, but then what about the Ford Fusion, which uses the same primarily Japanese platform? Then again, the Fusion was designed by Ford, and only uses Ford engines.
I'd be interested to see peoples' opinions on various cars. Some of them (Vauxhalls and Opels) can get quite confusing.
1. The country in which the highest level parent company is based (e.g. GM owns Volvo, so the highest level parent company for all Volvos is the United States)
2. The country in which the company is based, regardless of any larger companies that own said company.
3. The country in which the vehicle was designed.
4. The country that produced the vehicle's platform.
5. The country that produced the vehicle's engine.
6. The countries in which the vehicle is sold.
7. The country of origin put forth in the vehicle's marketing materials.
8. The country with which the vehicle is traditionally associated.
We decided that the country in which the vehicle is manufactured is not important, since the Neon was built in Mexico and it's clearly not a Mexican car, and many Toyotas are built in the United States but they're clearly not American cars.
Some of these are easy. The Chevrolet Malibu, for instance, works like this:
1. Parent company is GM (USA).
2. Company is Chevrolet (USA).
3. Designed in the USA.
4. Platform (Epsilon) was designed by GM (USA).
5. Engine (Ecotec) was designed by GM (USA).
6. Vehicle is sold primarily in the USA, though it is sold in other countries as well.
7. The car is marketed as an American car.
8. GM vehicles are traditionally considered to be American.
So the Malibu is an American car, through and through. There are challenges, though. Take the Dodge Charger:
1. Parent company is DaimlerChrysler (half German, half American).
2. Company is Dodge (USA).
3. Designed in the USA.
4. Platform is from an older Mercedes-Benz E-class (Germany).
5. Engine is American.
6. Vehicle is sold primarily in the USA.
7. Car is marketed as being a fusion of American and German engineering.
8. Dodge and Chrysler vehicles are traditionally American.
So what is it? American or German? I'd argue the Charger is an American car... the design and ownership of it seems to be a roughly 50/50 split between the American and German halves, but the traditional association of Chrysler with the United States, along with the fact that it uses a traditional nameplate (Charger and 300 are both very old Chrysler car names) makes me think it's more American than German.
Last one, I promise. The Mazda6.
1. Parent company is Mazda (Japanese; Ford only owns 30% so they are not a parent company).
2. Company is Mazda (Japan).
3. Designed in Japan
4. Platform was designed by Mazda with help from Ford (primarily Japanese).
5. Engines include Mazda-developed I4s and a Ford V6 (Japanese and American).
6. Vehicle is sold in the USA, Europe, Australia, and in Japan as the Atenza.
7. The car is marketed as being Japanese.
8. Mazda is traditionally Japanese.
Is it Japanese? Probably so, but then what about the Ford Fusion, which uses the same primarily Japanese platform? Then again, the Fusion was designed by Ford, and only uses Ford engines.
I'd be interested to see peoples' opinions on various cars. Some of them (Vauxhalls and Opels) can get quite confusing.
