GB, Yeah....Volkswagen of America use to bulid cars less than 20 minutes from where I live. I had a bunch of friends that use to work there.
At one point, I even had the opportunity to get a plant tour and watch how they put those cars together. It was quite fascinating.
However, VW sales lagged and after all of the tax breaks that the State gave VW, and the local municipalities gave VW (property taxes) and about 15 years of making cars, VW decided to pull the plug on their North Ameircan operations. So, one day it was just all over. The car haulers that use to look like a bee hive were just lined up and dormant....until they were sold and the lot turned into "empty" and then into "empty and weedy".
So, I still buy and will continue to buy Chevy's and Ford's. (Yeah both....so I can argue either side!!!). I do know that these companies are global as well. However, I also know that if these companies have successive bad years, and plants close, they are still going to stay right here in the USA. And when times get better, they are going to re-open right here in the USA.
When VW left, they sold everything and took their money and put it in a bank in Germany.
Economics are what economics are, but every Honda that is made in Alabama and every Toyota that is made in Ga. keeps the Osaka Stock Exchange ticker on the upbeat. And the last time I looked, my pension plan had investments in the NYSE, not the OSE.
So, as "good" as those foreign investments appear to the local economy, if the sales end doesn't work out, there can be a bad side to it on a loca level. In addition, That foreign investment erodes the fundamental infrastructure of the US automotive manufacturing base.
My son lives in the Detroit area and I visit him often. The old saying goes "as the auto industry goes, so goes the economy". Well, I will say that if you drive thru and around Detroit, and read the local papers, you will find that saying to be true.
So, I will not buy a Honda or a Toyota. Nor will I buy a Bergara.
Dave