How important is it to buy local?

GoPackGo wrote:
My only point is that currently, there is no big reason to improve quality because they don't have to. As soon as someone comes along with a well built, affordable product things will change - just like when the Japanese started sending well built, cheap, fuel efficient cars over here in the 70s.

And I'm also old enough to remember what happened when Honda (especially) started bringing in motorcycles to the USA. Quality was head and shoulders above any of the old-time brands. And they were priced right. The 750 4-cyl bike that Honda launched in 1969/70 simply blew away every other bike on features, quality, power, and price. It instantly became the best road bike to have.

Which brand of outboard motor do I see on salt water boats down here in Florida - Yamaha and Honda. Because they have a great reputation.

Which brand of small generator seems to be the most popular among RVers ? Honda.

Honda does not fail very often and if they set their sites on the RV market we might just be the winners.

Cheap does not necessarily mean shoddy !

I understand your logic up until you include "cheap". None of the above Honda examples are or were 'cheap' by any means. Honda gens are x2 the price of any others. Honda bikes at the time were 1.5 times the others.

I don't think having a 'better built' player in the market would change our own ever-loving quest for cheaper options. Cheap and better built are hardly ever in the same description on anything.