"Still, survival for the auto industry is not unlike the lumber industry says Brent Marshall, “When you buy a vehicle made in Canada, you support Canadian jobs. Given the state of the lumber industry, I would hope you wouldn’t buy lumber that was made in Sweden and Germany, and it’s the same for the auto industry.”

So how does that work when you consider his earlier statement that "50% of the market is in trucks and SUV's" and the fact that Dodge doesn't even make trucks and SUV's in Canada? Just curious.

I think GM and Dodge need to worry less about pulling on heart strings to drive sales and focus more on product development, long range planning and making vehicles that the masses want. Had they done that over the past 10-15 years, they wouldn't have needed the government to wake them from their self induced coma.

You want to help our "domestic" auto industry (I say "domestic" because we don't have any truly domestic auto makers in Canada . . . they are ALL foreign companies), buy from one of the ones that didn't need a bail out to keep going (Ford, Toyota, Honda, VW, Kia, etc.). Support the strong and they will keep getting stronger. Support the weak and you'll help contribute to a culture where they think they are entitled to rescue or assistance everytime they are unable to fend for themselves.

Question: Why would I want to buy a product that I have had a horrible time with. I have purchased three Chrysler products in the past and have had poor experiences with both. The first was very poor quality of the vehicle and the second was the extremely poor service of the dealership stated above. To me it became more important to have a reliable vehicle with service that I could count on. This year I replaced my Jeep with a Volkswagen. I decided to buy it based upon the quality record and the level of service I knew I could get in the area. It would be great to support the auto dealer's in the area if we could expect quality products and service.

I am not going to buy a vehicle just because it is assembled in Canada, period.

I want trouble free quality and longevity.

All my GM vehicles rusted out before they gave big mechanical problems.

The one and only Chrysler was exceptional in that it didn't rust out before I got rid of it. It had never ending mechanical problems.

Fiat has a very poor quality reputation in Europe and Chrysler may have teamed up with the wrong people.

My hat off to Ford. Ford is suffering, but at least it is suffering with dignity and may keep going without huge bailout money.

I think that Chryler took their money fron the Canadian government, closed up shop and took their business to the USA...so they lost my business just on that...GM sitll threatening to go bankrupt so with that possibility looming, they can't seriously expect me to buy their vehicles, and I have been a 45 year GM person....looking now to posibly replace my present vehicle, so they are not high on my trust scale...
I am begining to thisk all of this is just allowing these major businesses to shrug off their debt and make a pile of money while the little guy sufers...
do I trust them, NO! none of them...good think I can still buy binder twine and duct tape...

I bought honda and toyota and have never had any problems with either. Their warranty system is good as gold too in my opinion. I had a friend who bought a Chevy truck at northland. Needed some warranty work done at wood wheaton. They told him to pound sand because he didn't buy from them. Chrysler said sorry, but their used vehicle warranty company had filed for bankruptcy too....

I'll stick with the japanese. Its my money and my piece of mind.

These local car dealerships in Prince George have been hosing people for years. You could always get the same car in Quesnel, Williams Lake, Vancouver, cheaper than Prince George.

Now when the chips are down they want us to support them, even though they gave us the shaft over the years.

Go figure.

The principles behind GMAC (zionists managers) intentionally bankrupted GM through their finance arm in a bid to consolidate their control over the industry. The year before GM's bankruptcy GM had record sales... These principle actors are the same group of people (GMAC principles) that financed 9/11. They loaned the money to buy the twin towers (control of the towers was needed to plant the explosives), as well as financed all the other prime suspects involved in the crime of the millennium. With their total control of the Obama administration they have to feel like they are on top of the world about now....

Got rid of my last Ford truck a couple of years ago, bought a Toyota and what a difference quality makes......

I would think that buying a Chrysler or GM product after the ridiculous bail outs is, to paraphrase NMG, supporting those who think they deserve to be rewarded for their bad decisions. I have not owned any J.A. Pan made vehicles for a long while, but I know that their quality has been better than Detroit for quite some time now. I would probably own a Toyota if they made one ton diesel trucks that have eight foot beds. My domestic truck eats expensive u-joints and I hear that neither Dodge, Ford or GM are not much better for undercarriage longevity on a diesel truck. Unless you never take it off the highway of course.
metalman.

I can't wait for the Japanese to start making REAL full size trucks. I would be the first one in line to buy a one ton dually Toyota or Mazda!
GM's quality has been going down the drain the last 5 years.

I don't like buying a product that has been subsidized by the taxpayers.

HD, when you're buying "Japanese" you ARE buying a product that's even more "subsidized" by taxpayers. Both of Japan, and here in North America.

Just look at the various tax concessions the Japanese car makers have wrung out the communities where they've set up assembly plants over here.

In the States, they'll locate in some low-wage depressed areas, where the government is so desperate for any kind of industry it practically finances the plant for them just to get them to locate there. And then gives them years of guaranteed tax concessions to get them to stay. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We're just starting to see the importation of "used" Japanese cars and small trucks here. Something they've been foisting on New Zealand and other SE Asian markets for years.

They're for sale here "used" because the Japanese government won't let them be sold in Japan. In collusion with their car makers, a high price is exacted for a Japanese national to own a 'new' vehicle. This is primarily to ensure their auto industry is always going to be profitable enough in their protected home market to sell product at a discount abroad.

(The Japanese are masters at using "national credit" to further their own ends. We haven't learned how to do that yet. If we did, with the resources this country has, we'd all have a standard of living far in excess of any even the high income earners enjoy today.)

And then, to keep the wheels of their auto industry turning, that same Japanese government mandates those vehicles off the roads in Japan after they've reached a certain (but relatively low) mileage. And so they're exported, to take up that portion of the overseas market that can't afford to purchase a 'new' vehicle. Now how are GM, and Chrysler and Ford going to compete against THAT? "Subsidies" ~ they take many different forms from the ones we see as the present day 'bailouts'.