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

When I was shopping for a new car last year the exact equivalent Toyota was 20% more than the Ford. I am not sure if that is normal, but it makes me question whether the underlying notion that the Japanese cars cost less than the US cars is accurate. But assuming it is…

My understanding is that Toyota focuses on small incremental changes to their designs, while American car companies often wholly redesign components in a “big swing” attempt at making something that will leap ahead. But all too often these totally redesigned parts have issues, flaws, whatever. So then the inevitable recalls. Parts breaking at 120,000 miles instead of 220,000 miles.