VW's New US Plant To Source At Least 80% Of Its Parts Locally

Sorry Nite. I hope VW comes to ATL. They can move into the old ford plant and it's near the airport.

Just a little competition.

— Brembo (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 3:05:04 PM | | Votes: 0   

I thought it was common knowledge they were going to build in NC, near Greenville (eastern) is what I hear...

— aarononymous (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 8:20:16 PM | | Votes: 1   

Yawn...what?

— Agent009 (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 3:38:49 PM | | Votes: 1   

The rest of the world likes Volkswagens. Americans prefer Camrys.

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"Honda earned the top score in our analysis because it builds very reliable cars that perform very well. Its average test score is only slightly *under* Volkswagen's and Mercedes-Benz's."

"If the only things that mattered to a car buyer were performance, comfort, and safety, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen (including Audi) would make the dean's list. Their cars ride and handle especially well, have comfortable seats, and have relatively good fuel economy and acceleration."

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/which-companies-make-the-best-cars/overview/0407_best_cars.htm


http://www.freewebs.com/car_stuff_vw/VW_Appreciation_Page.htm

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 6:21:31 PM | | Votes: 2   

TurboSpyder:
"http://www.freewebs.com/car_stuff_vw/VW_Appreciation_Page.htm"
oooo... second propaganda site from TurboSpyder(Midengine) . could you tell us your other projects ?

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 6:40:32 PM | | Votes: 0   

Could you be more specific about exactly what on that page is propaganda? Didn't think so.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 6:45:25 PM | | Votes: 1   

not only on this , hire are your two propaganda sites :
1)http://www.freewebs.com/car_stuff_vw/VW_Appreciation_Page.htm
2)
http://www.freewebs.com/not_pc_facts/JapaneseCopy.htm
You copy paste from various sites some segregated textes ,tests,photos that fit to your "theories" that giving overall untrue presentment.

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 7:02:20 PM | | Votes: 1   

And you, sir, don't like the truth so you simply deny it.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 7:04:25 PM | | Votes: 1   

Here are some more facts to upset your false view of reality.

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International and Japanese Studies Symposium - The Automobile in Japan

http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/is/is494.pdf


"Japan became isolated from western technological development, and after the war 'Japan faced a huge 'backlog' of technologies **to be imported**.' (Goto 1993: 279)."

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2008 7:13:32 PM | | Votes: 1   

i think you TurboSpyder don`t learning in school and every think that is invented you invent for the next time and then you do somethink or invent somethink new (if you learn in school you copy someone inventions and knowledge) .
your citation:
"Japan became isolated from western technological development, and after the war 'Japan faced a huge 'backlog' of technologies **to be imported**.' (Goto 1993: 279)."
i think there were later also some technologies exported .
ferdinand porsche who in germany designed first volkswagen also "imported"(practically copied Hans Ledwinka tatra T97, tatra sued volkswagen and volkswagen payed DM3,000,000 after war) technology . if germany would been isolated there very probably not be VW and porsches today(porches to today`s are based on that same design invented by Hans Ledwinka).
the whole think is not doing the same(copy) and innovate no mater when e.g. japanese automakers build their position becouse they innovate in terms of reliability and quality what european and american automakers do much later .

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2008 12:11:32 PM | | Votes: 1   

Can you give another example of a German car company blatantly copying a competitor's design? The difference is that Japanese car companies (as the Chinese guy pointed out above) have been copying for decades and not just one or two isolated examples. Here's the *new* Toyota limousine made for the Japanese royal family - what car does it look like to you? Analogy: Which city is safer to walk the streets at night - Detroit or Tokyo? Murders occur in both cities so does that mean it’s reasonable to claim that they’re equally safe?

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6355/toyotalimo1500eb5.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3716/japanesenewspaperarticle0ed.jpg

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2008 2:51:05 PM | | Votes: 1   

TurboSpyder like i said:
"You copy paste from various sites some segregated textes ,tests,photos that fit to your "theories" that giving overall untrue presentment."
and example from this your site:
http://www.freewebs.com/not_pc_facts/JapaneseCopy.htm
you say austin 7 was copied by datsun but austin 7 was also copied under license by bmw and this was first bmw called dixi and by french Rosengart as his first car .
ps : austin 7 have copied from cadillac type 53 modern loyaut(three pedals for foots , gear lever and hand brake in the middle of the front two seats and key started ignition)

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2008 3:00:40 PM | | Votes: 1   

i said:"you say austin 7 was copied by datsun but austin 7 was also copied under license by bmw and this was first bmw called dixi and by french Rosengart as his first car ."

isn`t this importing technology by germans and french too? only few years earlier.
TurboSpyder about coping rolls:
"http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6355/toyotalimo1500eb5.jpg"
i think when this car would be for sold nobody would buy it and would "die" , but it is looking differently than rolls , i say it has rather british character mixed with japanese.
TurboSpyder:
"The difference is that Japanese car companies (as the Chinese guy pointed out above) have been copying for decades and not just one or two isolated examples."
what do you think this chinese guy can say if he only want to make money but not good cars , he must justify himself . for decades ? there are only few japanese copy and mainly in term of design , lexus ls430 i say was a copy of design from mercedes s , there was mazda rx-7 that was design copy of porsche 9...somethink(i don`t remember) but completly different from technology site ->wankel engine . tell us others if you know .
ps. from today readed magazine i fink out that 1968 opel gt(from germany) was design copy of corvette.

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2008 4:01:22 PM | | Votes: 1   

BMW owned Rover for a while and they **paid money** for legal ownership of the Mini brand. BMW built the Austin 7 under license meaning that they had to **pay** Austin money for the right to build the cars. And Opel is General Motors of Europe so the Opel GT is a GM copy of another GM car.


You can only see a few examples where the Japanese copied? What about the rest of the cars that I pointed out on my web page? The second generation Lexus LS430 is almost a perfect styling clone of the 1990's Mercedes S-Class and the Toyota limousine is immediately recognizable as looking like a Rolls Royce.


Here's some more evidence:


"For engineering, Datsun looked to Germany. In addition to its sohc engine, its suspension featured MacPherson struts in front, semi-trailing arms in back-a common arrangement now, but in 1968 only commonly associated with BMW 2002s. (Hence, the 510 came to be known as 'the poor man's BMW. ')"

http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/Autoweek.html

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April 2007

"This thing goes way back. Nissan has been firing spit wads at BMW since the 1968 Datsun 510 sailed in, seemingly on stolen blueprints for the BMW 1600-2 (later the BMW 2002)."

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison_test/sedans/winds_of_change_comparison_test

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“January 1966 also saw Nissan's merger with Prince. Prince was a company with incredible engineering skill, but with very poor business and management practices. They had already come up with a couple stellar automobiles, including the original Skyline sedans and the r380 sports prototype(see race history). Princes engineers had taken an deep hard look at the Mercedes engines of the early 60's, and had come up with some nifty little SOHC engine designs of their own.”

“The first Nissan engine similar of the L series engine came out in mid 1967 in the 2000 roadster. This 2 liter powerplant, the U20, was designed by the new combined engineering team at Nissan, put a Prince Mercedes based head on a modified and stroked Austin based roadster 1600 block and came up with a SOHC engine capable of 150 horsepower.”

http://www.the510realm.com/510history/car/index.html

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Cameras

"Canon got started in 1933 when Mitarai, then a practicing M.D., enlisted some technician friends to develop better optical equipment for hospitals. While they were about it, they turned out Japan's first 35-mm. camera, a near copy of the German Leica."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938422,00.html?iid=chix-sphere

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2008 8:41:58 PM | | Votes: 1   

TurboSpyder datsun also later pay license payment to austin.
TurboSpyder:
"What about the rest of the cars that I pointed out on my web page? The second generation Lexus LS430 is almost a perfect styling clone of the 1990's Mercedes S-Class"
i said above that ls430 was a design copy:
"lexus ls430 i say was a copy of design from mercedes s"
strange think is that ls430 have even VERY similar rims to s class . they wanted to ls430 look similar to merc s . that`s why i don`t like lexis ls even if that new ls460 have nothing copied from merc s .
TurboSpyder:
"Princes engineers had taken an deep hard look at the Mercedes engines of the early 60's, and had come up with some nifty little SOHC engine designs of their own.”
was only prince engineers that were learning on merc engines?mercedes i think have then one of the best engines . if this would been blatant copy i think mercedes would sued prince . not so long ago bmw sued nissan even for trivial using M in infinity model name . remember that petrol engines generally are similar one to other . in mercedes i think have been working the best engineers from europe not only germany like you think e.g.Béla Barényi-did more for mercedes(practically build mercedes mark as innovator) then germans did later without him . in japan i doubt there are working many engineers from outside japan , becouse who know this language to live there , only asians.
about nissan and autin engines:
http://www.earlydatsun.com/austin.html
"But to call the Nissan engines built after the Austin agreement a blatant copy would be to sell them considerably short. Yes they were based heavily on the Austin designs, but they also made significant changes to the designs. The Nissan engines were built with a degree of engineering precision the British couldn't come close to matching. The British engines were notoriously oil leakers (the old standard joke was Q/ how do you tell if an Austin needs oil A/ it's stopped leaking ) , but even 40+ years down the track old Nissan engines just don't leak oil. The other thing the did was significantly improve the cylinder head and manifold design, Nissan engines all produce more power than their Austin equals. (for example 1965 Fairlady 1600 = 96hp, 1965 MGB 1800 = 95hp, or 1966 Datsun Bluebird SS 1299 = 77hp, 1966 Austin Healey Sprite 1275 = 48hp etc.) The other thing Nissan had that Austin lacked was reliability, the Austin engines weren't bad mind you, it's just that the Nissan versions were practically indestructible. The biggest impact Nissan made on overall vehicle reliability was it's use of Japanese made electrical components. Nissan's electrical component suppliers such as Hitachi, EverWing, Mitsubishi Electrical, Niles and Myamoto supplied 100% reliable and totally dependable parts, Austin has Lucas."
TurboSpyder:
"Cameras"
this poratal isn`t about electronics and i`m not very interested in electronics but if you want:
sony did first walkman and it was copied by companies in

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/28/2008 7:09:40 AM | | Votes: 1   

whole world from this what i know.

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/28/2008 7:12:46 AM | | Votes: 1   

TurboSpyder - can you show other then some early datsuns and lexuses ls430 copies . what about honda , subaru , acura , infinity , mitsubishi , mazda (in exception rx-7 design and mx-5 overall conception), later nissans(exception 92-02 micra like mini but it hasn`t mini badge like bmw with paid for mini badge) , toyotas , suzukis ?

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/28/2008 9:14:32 AM | | Votes: 1   

abcd, have a look at this video at the 1:23 mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91WVgzP_XS0


The Japanese manufacturers have been doing this from the beginning.

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3716/japanesenewspaperarticle0ed.jpg

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 3/28/2008 12:37:55 PM | | Votes: 1   

"abcd, have a look at this video at the 1:23 mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91WVgzP_XS0"

driving competition cars definitely isn`t coping . what they copied? suspension , engine,styling,chassis?i know they copied becouse at the end of projecting this car they was tuning suspension to be better than bmw 335(but i`m not saying it`s better).

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 3/28/2008 5:53:58 PM | | Votes: 1