Saving the American auto industry while driving a foreign car?

By Thomas Lifson

How many of the government folks working to save GM and Chrysler (make that the UAW, actually) drive American-branded cars? Apparently not many. Andrew Malcolm and Johanna Neuman write in the LA Times:

Oops, it seems that many on President Obama's team, including those seeking to save the American automobile industry, do not actually drive vehicles from the American automobile industry.

According to a study by the Detroit News and a White House parking lot survey by Politico.com, neither do Obama's White House staffers. ...

The Politico survey of cars parked next to the White House found only five U.S. brand cars out of 23 -- a Dodge, two Fords, a Jeep and a Cadillac. The News found that Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who didn't have the money to pay more than $20,000 in back taxes until they became a confirmation problem, did acquire a 2008 Acura.

A car's name plate (or "badge" as they call it in the industry) does not really tell you where it is made, of course. Geithner's Acura could well be made in Ohio, for instance. Mine was.

The badge does tell you who sold the vehicle though. Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans BMWs, Mercedes, and other foreign badged cars are made in the USA. Some of these "foreign" American-made cars are exported to other countries, including the home countries of their makers.

A Chrysler or GM badge (or a Ford one, too, though Ford isn't being "saved" for now) is a good indication that a UAW member built it. And it is the UAW which is being bailed out. The nonunion workers at Toyota, Nissan, Honda, et al may be Americans, but they pay no dues that get recycled into Democrat campaign support. The only unionized foreign car plant in the USA is Mazda's factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, a product of the fact that Ford owns a substantial share of Mazda.

Hat tip: Ed Lasky