American cars have a long-standing history of not being as reliable/durable as Japanese cars, what keeps the US from being able to make quality cars? Can we not just reverse engineer a Toyota, or hire their top engineers for more money?

Question

A lot of Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Honda, some of the brands with a reputation for the highest quality and longest lasting cars, have factories in the US… and they’re cheaper to buy than a lot of US comparable vehicles. Why can the US not figure out how to make a high quality car that is affordable and one that lasts as long as these other manufacturers?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

A Couple Reasons:

1. General Business Philosophy – On average Americans keep a new car for 8 years. So, that’s really only as long as American manufacturers need to design a car to last. Since that’s an average, a lot of folks keep a car for shorter periods of time. US automakers are most concerned with winning new buyers as they cycle through cars. Pay attention to the message of the commercials. Usually the focus is “check out the all new model of this US car”. or similar.

Japanese manufacturers are more concerned with owning a customer for life. IE, no matter how long I keep a Toyota, my next vehicle will be a Toyota. This is especially true with Subaru. They often run ads with the theme “look how long subaru lasted! I am sad to see it go but I will pass it down to my kids like an old shirt (because it still runs fine) while I enjoy my new subaru”

2. Manufacturing and Engineering Philosophy – Lean Manufacturing, The Toyota Way, etc. No matter what you call it the basic principal is an emphasis on striving for perfection in quality control. This is how many Japanese plants were designed from the start. They believe that putting out a defective product is more costly in the long run than stopping production now.

Many if not all American manufacturers have attempted to adopt these principles to some degree. But America just does not do it it as well as the Japanese. Also, Japanese cars (engines, transmissions especially) are often designed with the assumption that Americans will not do proper maintenance. Ever hear a story of a Toyota running fine with little or no oil? That’s why.

It’s important to note that the location of the factory usually has no impact. A Nissan plant in the US mostly follows the same principals as a Nissan factory in Japan.