Cash for Clunkers was a poorly managed program that wasn’t well thought out, and it’s ridiculous that it was run by someone with no auto experience. Hot Air’s article titled Big winners in Cash for Clunkers: Toyota, Honda, and Nissan points out that foreign car makers gained share while American auto makers lost some market position.

This would be undesirable if those Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans were manufactured offshore. However, according to the Japanese Automobile Manufacturer’s Association in 2007 (apparently the latest year for which data is available):

• 63% of Japanese-brand autos sold in the US were manufactured in the US.
• 424,000+ people were employed by Japanese auto makers in the US.
• 1.6 Million US-made “Japanese” vehicles were exported from the US.

If these numbers are to be believed, is it still valid to say there are foreign cars and American cars? A related question: are the supply chains of GM, Ford, and Chrysler located exclusively within the US? Are the parts makers exclusively based in the US? How many make parts for multiple auto brands?

The slump in auto buying impacted Honda and Toyota as well as GM and Chrysler, and if the metrics above are any indication US employees and suppliers of so-called Japanese car makers were feeling the squeeze as much as those of GM, Ford, and Chrysler. A significant portion of the cash for clunkers funds spent on Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans will remain in the US.