Mike, consumer electronics was a great failure of American manufacturing. Once upon a time multiple American companies made good TV's and VCR's. Then a combination of poor management and buyer cooperation dismantled that industry in about a decade. Hell, we (an American) invented the VCR and sold the rights to the Japanese.
Foreign autos, and again mismanaged American car companies, are a pet peeve of mine. I know Honda offered their CVCC head technology to GM (what, around 1970?) and they laughed at Soichiro, rejecting his offer and saying he could never produce enough cars to be a threat. Fine visionaries there!
I drive a Corvette Z06 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Two of the finest automobiles I've ever owned (and I've owned cars from Honda, Acura, Porsche, BMW, and Volvo in my misguided youth). Plenty of people buy foreign in those price ranges for emotional reasons. I know my old Jeep YJ was built in Canada but the bulk of its content was still North American. I also know an American built Camry has a lot of American labor in it. But there are plenty of cars out there with 90% or more Japanese content too.
I'll agree if the style doesn't grab you then buy what does. But I have a lot of fun with the performance car crowd debating the vette. I tell them , you spend up to 50% more on a stock vehicle and meet me on a race track, 1/4 mile or road race since I do both, and let's see what happens. Then try to tell me what a POS American cars are or how they can't handle well
. Then I get 28 MPG on the highway home, more better than most competing vehicles. Build quality and initial defects are on par with the imports (M3 engine blow-ups anyone?). I feel good that the only other cheaper car to come close in the 1/4 is a '03 Ford Mustang Cobra.
Then travel to world of modified cars and tell me what vehicle an LPE 427TT vette won't beat, considering it holds several world speed records.
All this hot air about import cars... and I admire many of their designs and anything not specifically "riced" out. I just don't think we should prefer them simply because they were made elsewhere.
