Supply Chain

Foreign Automakers Cry "Foul" on USA

Aug. 31, 2009

If you stick around long enough, sooner or later you'll pretty much see it all. Case in point for this week: After years (decades?) of the Detroit Big Three automakers complaining that their foreign competitors (mostly, the Japanese trio of Toyota, Honda and Nissan) had an unfair advantage in the U.S. marketplace, the worm has suddenly turned a complete 180. Now, it's the foreign OEMs who are pointing to Washington as offering an unfair advantage to American-made cars. When you consider that the U.S. Government is, in fact, a majority owner of GM and a stakeholder in Chrysler, I suppose it's not entirely out of the question that the Obama Administration might be playing favorites with its own companies.

At any rate, you can hear from a few disgruntled foreign automakers in this article from the Wall Street Journal, as well as U.S. politicians who say the claims of bias are unfounded.

About the Author

Dave Blanchard Blog | Senior Editor

Focus: Supply Chain

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Contributing Editor Dave Blanchard provides the IndustryWeek audience his expertise in lean supply chain, reporting on topics from logistics, procurement and inventory management to warehousing and distribution. He also specializes in business finance news and analysis, writing on such topics as corporate finance and tax, cost management, governance, risk and compliance, and budgeting and reporting.

Dave is also the chief editor of Penton Media’s Business Finance and editorial director of Material Handling & Logistics.

With over 25 years of experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Dave is an award-winning journalist and has been twice named one of the nation’s top columnists by the American Society of Business Publications Editors.

Dave received his B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University, and was a high school teacher prior to his joining the publishing industry. He is married and has two daughters.