I would never ever buy a Mini that's made in China. Never!


https://jalopnik.com/bmw-will-make-e...ina-1823262407

 

Then you might not be buying an electric car: The regulations pushed foreign automakers, like Daimler, Toyota, the Renault-Nissan alliance, GM, BMW, VW, and Ford, to all announce joint-ventures to produce electric vehicles in China over the last year.

China is offering ridiculous incentives to car makers to get their EV programs running. Unfortunately, as anything it seems, these will be too expensive to build in the US

BMW is also making EV Mini's in the UK too so the Chinese versions might just be for Asia.

 

15 years ago most people said they'd never buy a car made in South Korea...

 

And most people of my age long ago would never buy a German Car.

How much of what you consume today is made in China? How much of current MINIs are actually from UK or Germany or wherever?

 

With all the technologies and gizmos and regulatory add-ons being put on the newer cars and the cars of the future, I have a feeling I'll just be making my own cars in the future.

Relying on the body shells that are readily available, I'll just build a brand new classic... for example : http://www.bmh-ltd.com/minishell.htm

then just bolt on new parts with the end result of a brand new classic with none of the gee-whiz gizmos and tech do-dads the major auto makers keep insisting on adding to the modern car (some would joke about things like reliability and craftsmanship). I don't need 200 lbs of seat adjusting motors, or electric windows and power locks. Sure I enjoy my mp3 player, but I don't need navigation when I know how to read a map and I get to choose the way I go and not an algorithm. My car does not need to be connected to the internet, I don't need or want the ability to stream data so I can check my email while I am driving, and since I don't use social media (except forums) so I don't have followers feigning interest in what I am doing 24 hours a day....

I can get into a car that is disconnected and enjoy the journey to the destination and maybe make a few unexpected stops along the way.

Motor On!

 

My grandparent's HATED German products. I don't think they were too keen on Germans either, but they were too compassionate to be hateful towards people. I don't blame them, either.

Tons of stuff from China, including plenty of components that make up our vehicles.

 

Bingo! I work at a Chinese owned company and you'd be AMAZED at how many products are made in China that go on "Made in America" promoted products.

 

I'm sure I can find plenty of Chinese parts on my Harleys. You know, the epitome of Made in 'Merica, freedom loving, flag waving patriotism.

I'd put money on my Nova not having Chinese parts, but that is about it.

 

The flag waving Merican companies are the ones that you need to scrutinize. Just take one most widely known company, Stanley Tools (once known as Stanley Tools of Connecticut ). You will find an Merican flag on most of its products. If I have not mistaken, it re-incorporated in the Cayman Islands to skirt US income taxes. Stanley owns Dewalt, Black and Decker and more.

A lot of Made in America products is less made in America than most people think. It is so easy to repackage the foreign content in this soil and claim made here. It is a fools errand to buy domestic in the age of globalization. Globalization is like the genie out of the oil lamp...

Oh, I should mention too, that when you seen US companies registered in Delaware that too is a big red flag. So too is intellectual rights suits filed in East Texas.

 

Should we start a list of huge "American" companies moving to Ireland to skirt tax laws?

1. Apple
2. Google
3. PayPal
4. thru 700. -

700 US companies now located in Ireland as direct investment soars:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-us-investment

 

You are so smart. Only if you get your facts straight.

Just take your #1 as example. The company paid more tax than any US companies in history. Do a search, and be sure you read credible sources.

 

But it saved billions moving overseas because of loose tax laws

----
Apple has accumulated more than $128 billion in profits offshore, and probably much more, that is untaxed by the United States and hardly touched by any other country. Nearly all of that was made over the past decade.


I could continue but Im smart and will let this article do it .....
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/w...es-jersey.html

 

I was reading a Porsche article the other day and most of the Euros are banning internal combustion vehicles in the coming years. Norway is like 2025 while others are later. An electric MINI made in China . . . . .

Reminds me of watching an old Star Trek where Sulu has an old pistol. None of the fellow Star Fleet folks had ever seen one.

 

Certain things that were invented/developed in certain countries should always stay that way. A Mustang should always be built in the US, Riesling should only be made in Germany, Romanee-Conti should always be made in France, Tequila should always be made in Mexico, Minis should always be made in Britain or at least Europe. Sure in this global economy parts come from all over the world but it should have enough parts to proudly say Made in the United Kingdom.

 

"This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis.[18][19] It was manufactured at the Longbridge and Cowley plants in England, the Victoria Park / Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Chile, Italy (Innocenti), Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_(marque)

 

The globalization genie has gotten bigger to put back into the oil lamp. China's auto giant Geely is now the biggest shareholder (just under 10%) of Daimler. It already owns Volvo for a decade.

A lot of German cars, except the top of the range models, are not made in Germany. BMW, VW, and Mercedes all have factory in North America and Mexico. Many "Import" automakers has design centers in North America to better cater to the nation's tastes and preferences.

 

I bought a MINI because it was made in the U.K.

I wouldn't have bought it if it were made anywhere else, even Europe.

 

speaking of "global" cars - according to the window sticker, my 15 year old Acura with 300K miles was made here in the USA with 70% US or Canada sourced components. Sometimes it goes the other way. So far it is by far the most trouble free car I have ever owned. No where near as much fun as the MINI of course!

 

Check to see the country of origin, you'd be surprised home much of your (our) Mini isn't build in the UK anymore

 

The VIN indicates that it was assembled in the U.K. , that's what I looked for.
I don't care where the parts were sourced from.

 

Interesting.

 

I still say I won't. And I never will.

 

My grandparents lived through the second world war, so they would always say that they never buy a car from Japan or Germany. Not sure if they would have even bought an Italian car. I never thought to ask them.

I remember when products from Japan were considered cheap and low quality, including cars built by Toyota and Datsun. But time changes everything and eventually, the last car my grandmother bought was a 1990 Nissan Sentra (downsizing considerably from the giant Pontiacs they would always gravitate to) and she loved the thing. Of course, it may have helped the cause a little that it was made in Smyrna, TN.

How times changed. And then they changed even more. In 1993, I bought a California Honda studio designed and Marysville OH (USA) produced Civic EX Coupe. Even if you lived in Japan and wanted a Civic Coupe, it came from Marysville. That car has almost as much American content, as a Ford or Chevy would have had back then, and probably more than the current crop of domestics.

So I would never say that I wouldn't buy a product built away from it's original home country. Especially if the product showed the same quality build as the original. Might seem odd at first, but hey, if the "Mininess" is the same, then it's still a Mini, no matter the build location. It will still come from planet Earth. That would be good enough for me.

 

With as bad as the reliability history has been with a large number of MINI models, maybe China would have been an improvement?