The Oakland Press publishes auto reviews, several a week, both from our own writers and from syndicated services. The reviews are a mixture of domestic and foreign carmakers.
Recently, what with the domestic auto industries economic troubles, we have received emails from readers who tell us we should review only domestic models, not foreign ones.
They point out, quite correctly, that this county and this region are heavily involved in the domestic auto industry and our ecomomy is a reflection of the Detroit 3's economic health.
For that reason, we already attempt to balance our reviews so that at least half are from the domestic automakers in our own back yard.
And that is not a complete reflection of all the models that are available. The fact is that there are many more foreign automakers who sell their models in this country than domestic ones.
On the domestic side are GM, Ford and Chrysler.
On the foreign side, from Japan, there are Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru; from Germany there are BMW, Mercedes, VW, Porche; from Korea there are Kia and Hyundai.
But the division is not nearly that precise. What about the subsidiary companies such as Saab, Volvo, Daewoo, etc? And what about the models produced by the Detroit 3, but built in other countries? And then, what about the cross-production deals such as Ford/Mazda and GM/Toyota?
We could, of course, review just the cars produced here in SE Michigan. But to do so would be to ignore the fact that America is a net importer of automobiles and that Americans can choose many other models. Would that make sense in the corner of America that holds the future of domestic automaking?
To review all models available in this country presents a much more accurate view of the competitive and global field automakers face today. In these tough times we all need the best information available.