Toyota and The American Auto Worker

If you’re a patriotic American and you drive a Toyota, you know first-hand the number of people that attempt to draw a distinction between “being a true patriot” and “driving a foreign car.” With the Tundra, the loyalties of Ford, Dodge, and GM owners are especially pronounced. It’s quite common to speak with someone who owns or drives a domestic brand and here a comment – whether a simple tease or an out-right insult – about the lineage of the Tundra.

To anyone who doubts the “American” credentials of the Tundra, or Toyota in general, we point to the following:

1. We live in a global economy – deal with it. The shirt you’re wearing, the computer you’re using, and the bananas you had on your corn flakes likely came from somewhere outside the U.S., so what’s the big deal? The opportunity to buy goods solely produced in America passed a long time ago.
2. Domestic branded trucks come with a substantial portion of foreign-made parts. See the 2007 and 2008 results of the “most American truck” studies done by Cars.com. The Tundra was more American than the Ram both years and the GM trucks this year.
3. Toyota employs about 36,000 American auto workers, and indirectly supports hundreds of thousands of related American jobs. Supplier employees, service workers helping Toyota employees, etc. Some studies say there are 150k related jobs from US Toyota plants alone.
4. The American value of “getting the best product for the best dollar” shouldn’t be set aside to support inefficient and unprofitable domestic automakers.

If you still doubt us, read this story about 8 US states that depend on foreign automakers for jobs.

Any questions?