Q. The cars roll endlessly off the local assembly lines of the industry's biggest automakers, more than 10,000 a day, into the eager hands of Brazil's new middle class. The shiny new Fords, Fiats, and Chevrolets tell the tale of an economy in full bloom that now boasts the fourth largest auto market in the world.
What happens once those vehicles hit the streets, however, is shaping up as a national tragedy, experts say, with thousands of Brazilians dying every year in auto accidents that in many cases shouldn't have proven fatal.
The culprits are the cars themselves, produced with weaker welds, scant safety features and inferior materials compared to similar models manufactured for U.S. and European consumers, say experts and engineers inside the industry.
Brazilian death rate from passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States.
The country's few safety activists perceive a deadly double standard, with automakers earning more money from selling cars that offer drivers fewer safeguards.
"The manufacturers do this because the cars are a little cheaper to make and the demands of the Brazilian consumers are less; their knowledge of safety issues is lower than in Europe or the U.S."
Manufacturers earn a 10 percent profit on Brazilian-made cars, compared with 3 percent in the U.S. and a global average of 5 percent, according to IHS Automotive, an industry consulting firm.
Only next year will laws require frontal air bags and anti-lock braking systems on all cars, safety features that have been standard in industrial countries for years.
An engineer for a major U.S. automaker, speaking only on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said he has watched for years as his company failed to implement more advanced safety features in Brazil, simply because the law did not require them.
"''The automakers are pleased to make more profitable cars for countries where the demands, whatever they may be, are less rigorous," he said. "It happens everywhere — India, China and Russia, for example."
The dangers come down to basics, engineers said: the lack of body reinforcements, lower-quality steel in car bodies, weaker or fewer weld spots to hold the vehicles together and car platforms designed decades before modern safety advances.
Over the years Ward said he has watched the same battles play out over auto safety — the only thing that changes is the location.
"The sad thing is, this has been the experience in the 1960s in the U.S., in the 1990s in Europe and now in Latin America," Ward said. "The industry does the least it can get away with until they're forced to do something different. It's maddening."
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/ap-impact-cars-made-brazil-191853931.html
Why don't Corporations voluntary make cars that are more safer evev after there is demand for it???
What happens once those vehicles hit the streets, however, is shaping up as a national tragedy, experts say, with thousands of Brazilians dying every year in auto accidents that in many cases shouldn't have proven fatal.
The culprits are the cars themselves, produced with weaker welds, scant safety features and inferior materials compared to similar models manufactured for U.S. and European consumers, say experts and engineers inside the industry.
Brazilian death rate from passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States.
The country's few safety activists perceive a deadly double standard, with automakers earning more money from selling cars that offer drivers fewer safeguards.
"The manufacturers do this because the cars are a little cheaper to make and the demands of the Brazilian consumers are less; their knowledge of safety issues is lower than in Europe or the U.S."
Manufacturers earn a 10 percent profit on Brazilian-made cars, compared with 3 percent in the U.S. and a global average of 5 percent, according to IHS Automotive, an industry consulting firm.
Only next year will laws require frontal air bags and anti-lock braking systems on all cars, safety features that have been standard in industrial countries for years.
An engineer for a major U.S. automaker, speaking only on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said he has watched for years as his company failed to implement more advanced safety features in Brazil, simply because the law did not require them.
"''The automakers are pleased to make more profitable cars for countries where the demands, whatever they may be, are less rigorous," he said. "It happens everywhere — India, China and Russia, for example."
The dangers come down to basics, engineers said: the lack of body reinforcements, lower-quality steel in car bodies, weaker or fewer weld spots to hold the vehicles together and car platforms designed decades before modern safety advances.
Over the years Ward said he has watched the same battles play out over auto safety — the only thing that changes is the location.
"The sad thing is, this has been the experience in the 1960s in the U.S., in the 1990s in Europe and now in Latin America," Ward said. "The industry does the least it can get away with until they're forced to do something different. It's maddening."
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/ap-impact-cars-made-brazil-191853931.html
Why don't Corporations voluntary make cars that are more safer evev after there is demand for it???
A. Even with government oversight, the list of safety recalls demanded by the government is daunting.
With 75% of our consumer products made in 3rd world countries / China, with no government oversight, you'd start seeing child products/toys painted in lead, consumer foods with melamine (like china has already done to infant formula), food products contaminated and cleanliness would suffer as well
With 75% of our consumer products made in 3rd world countries / China, with no government oversight, you'd start seeing child products/toys painted in lead, consumer foods with melamine (like china has already done to infant formula), food products contaminated and cleanliness would suffer as well
Where can I find a native American dream catcher in Tennessee?
Q.
A. From any shop selling made-in-china pseudo-indian crap.
Because dream catchers aren't "native american" at all. They are specifically Ojibwe cradle decorations, crib mobiles, invented in the early 1920's, nothing more. They have no spiritual meaning or special powers.
Being as there are no Ojibwe communities in Tennessee, any one you buy is going to be made by non-natives.
And in fact, the sort of ones that white people seem to be obsessed with- with bright neon colors and plastic beads and dyed chicken feathers, are almost certainly made in china.
To tell the truth, we can't figure out why you guys are so into what is, essentially, an infant's toy in the first place.
Because dream catchers aren't "native american" at all. They are specifically Ojibwe cradle decorations, crib mobiles, invented in the early 1920's, nothing more. They have no spiritual meaning or special powers.
Being as there are no Ojibwe communities in Tennessee, any one you buy is going to be made by non-natives.
And in fact, the sort of ones that white people seem to be obsessed with- with bright neon colors and plastic beads and dyed chicken feathers, are almost certainly made in china.
To tell the truth, we can't figure out why you guys are so into what is, essentially, an infant's toy in the first place.
what is the function of globalization? and what is the problem of globalization?
Q. can you tell me a current and relevant examples for globalization today. thank you so much if you can tell me as clearly as possible about this hotly-spoken word "globalization". THANK YOU!!!!
A. In a word ,C O N T R O L ! You will hear all kinds of good things that can come of "Globalization", but deep down, control of commerce and our very individual lives are at the center of the issue. I caught a blurb on Y!A here about a proposal from France's Sarkozy about us getting in line with the rest of the European Union's currency , that we should follow suit. At this point , we have our own currency, and we are not yet quite in the cluches of U.N. /Euro control, but we are standing on a slippery slope , and I fear for our nation. The benefit to other nations of globalization is that their standard of living gets lifted. Guess what happens to ours? It falls, that's not a guess, that's a fact! Cases in point, look at the auto industry, they sent so much of the work overseas that paid well here in the U.S. ,the American real content is very low in so called "American Made" cars. Look at toy manufacturers, I THINK it was Mattel, ( correct me if I've got the wrong one) that has a setup in China making toys for export back here in the U.S. that were painted with lead paint. We got them here and had them tested for toxins, found lead paint, the manufacturer apologizes to , of all people , the CHINESE!!! WE get the back of their hand!! Let's go from there to the infant formula that sicken and killed children that was made in CHINA. They DO NOT operate under the same parameters as U.S. manufacturers do, and don't let anyone tell you they do! These people that set up shop overseas are dubiously called "American Businesses" selling out our very nation. What do you think,does globalization help our country?
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