Eat your import? I think not

Two news stories caught my eye this week. The first concerned the Honda Civic’s enduring popularity with Canadian drivers, while the other predicted that Toyota would shortly topple GM as the world’s top automaker. Neither of these items should be a surprise to anyone who follows the auto industry, but they do once again highlight the terminal malaise facing the North American automakers.

When I first stepped into my first Honda Civic I was awestruck by this little car’s looks and handling. The fact that it had a reputation for bullet-proof reliability sealed the deal immediately. Compared to my first car, a 1982 Mercury Lynx which subsequently self-destructed in its first year, my little Civic was a revelation.

That was back in 1991 and even then Honda had been well-established in North America. Since then, the company, along with Toyota, has made constant inroads with a simple formula of selling well-made cars that people want to buy. The Civic, which is now outselling Ford’s F-series trucks as the top selling vehicle in Canada, is still miles above the competition from Ford, GM and Chrysler.

Don’t get me wrong though. I wish the now inaccurately named Big Three would produce better cars and they are making improvements on some fronts. But I’ve owned several GM products, one Ford (the ill-fated Lynx) and a Chrysler, and none of them has impressed like the Hondas and Toyotas I have owned.

Once upon a time I worked as a daily newspaper reporter in Oshawa, Ontario, the home of GM Canada. On more than one occasion I had to drive my import into a CAW protest or strike and endured sneers and caustic remarks about my choice of wheels. And I always felt compelled to respond to those attacks.

For one thing, I couldn’t afford any of the GM vehicles made in Oshawa. But even if I could, why would a young guy want to drive their dad’s Oldsmobile or some other mid-sized GM sedan like the awful Chevy Lumina. Sure, I could have bought a smaller GM car like the Chevy Sprint, but that was actually a rebadged Suzuki Swift. I drove those at the newspaper. They had three cylinder engines – need I say more.

At least my Honda was made in Ontario and supported Ontario communities, I would argue. And besides, just because my neighbour builds houses for a living doesn’t mean I should put my family in one of his homes if I don’t believe it to be best built product available. Does it?