Re: Chinese Cars are Coming! Chinese Cars are Coming!

If Bricklin is involved, it'll just be another scam to line his pockets - probably with greedy would-be dealer cash.

Just ask the Canadian and New Brunswick (state) governments!

Jeff

Don't believe it? Look what happened to our commercial electronic industry after Asia drove in its claws. Multiply this by a million-fold and you can visualize what will become of our automotive industry.

Do you people believe the Chinese cars will be SO good, and SO cheap, they will displace the cars we are buying??? Personally, I don't think so. People in North America and Europe still enjoy a good measure of qualityand reliability. If the Chinese cars are manufactured cheaply in the same manner as other goods from the Orient, then I think consumers will stay away from them in droves. Nomen.....you are an alarmist. Shame on you.

Arthur

The " chery QQ EZ-Drive " will come to the market ( US ) at 62,800 yuan ...... thats about $ 7600 US .... and not a bad looking little car.

The same was said about Japan after WWII history will repeat itself.

HarryS

If the Chinese cars are manufactured cheaply in the same

Don't think so !! Consumers are flocking to buy all types of Chinese and other Oriental produced goods thanks to our greedy big corporations having the products manufactured offshore. It's difficult to find a camera or any piece of electronic equipment that's not made in the Orient. It's strange that communist China has became a major producer of our goods but we had better not take a vacation in Cuba with that Chinese camera! Sad that in one generation we have went from being a nation of producers to a nation of consumers drowning in debt. What's next? Borrowing from China?

I hate to tell you this but we are already borrowing from China. Who do you think is underwriting much of our massive deficit?

That's OK we will just declare bankruptcy in about 10 years and all those Chinese investors will get screwed Mah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa!! ;-) It's the American Way!! ;-)

Actually though I think it might be a net benefit to the economy - think of all those auto mechanic positions that are going to be created for people that will be needed to fix those cars. Maybe we can put all our out of work software developers through retraining programs to make them into mechanics? ;-)

Ted

Sort of like that army of TV/VCR repairmen that fixes our Chinese electronics? Hmmmm?

I think we'd be pretty foolish to not be able to predict how this is going to play out. Cars are basically the last thing that is made in Japan. Everything that used to come from Japan, except cars, now comes from China with Japanese technology. Japanese labor is more expensive than American labor, so they outsource some of their production facilities here where it would be cheaper. Well, Chinese labor is reallly cheap, and the quality is still good. If the Chinese goverment is logical enough to see this coming, you should be too.

If you want to support auto mechanics, buy a Fiat made by the Italian government, not the Chinese.

Customers seeking the lowest possible price, a not unlaudable aim. In many cases you still have the choice.

Let's take a simple example of a suit I just bought from a well-known department store in London. My choice was down to two very reputable 'premium' British brands. Even after the sale reduction one was still over GBP 100 dearer than the other. There was a difference of over GBP 200 in the pre-reduction price.

I asked the salesman in the dearer section to explain the differences, and it boiled down to location of manufacture and source of fabric. But was there such a quality difference? I doubt it.

(If you're wondering, I bought the dearer garment because it was a slightly better fit and I fancied that label on this occasion.)

And, what's more, a friend of mine was the buyer for a famous brand of casual wear based in New York and now he is production manager for another big brand of casual wear, also in NYC. Both jobs entail visiting the supplyers' factories. And why are they not in the USA, Britain, Italy etc (all places where workmanship is very good)? Because you, the American buying public, won't pay for it.

Of course, same applies everywhere. The UK textile industry has shrunk for the same reasons.

DAS

Already here, sunshine.

DAS

Excellent idea (for US-centric positions)...well, quite good anyway...FIAT has GM on the share register (hence good idea) but isn't quite up to other western European companies' standards yet...

DAS

There's a reason for that and it's tied up in human nature.

If given a choice people will prefer to pay $100 a month for 10 years for a particular product, than to pay $7,000 now, even when that monthly payment is costing them an extra $5000. This is true EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE the $7000!!!!

Buying good quality is the same type of deal. The best quality stuff always costs more - but it lasts longer, and doesen't break down, so in the long run you save money. Cheap crap generally doesen't cost much up front, but it's more than made up for that over the same time period.

Thank God that there's enough people that understand this so that the manufacturers of the best quality stuff don't go completely out of business.

Ted

Well, the nature of STUPID humans maybe...not me! Hard enuf for me to want to spend the 7000 I got, let alone the 7000 I AIN'T got.

Frenchy

In all likelihood, Chinese cars will hit the market as "fringe players" which are mediocre in design and quality like the first Japanese and Korean cars, and over time, will mature to be competitive in many market segments. Consider the first Japanese cars sold in North America. They were low-end products which rusted badly and had power trains that were ok, but nothing more. Now, some of the best cars in the world are Japanese. Korean cars aren't that far along yet, but after only about 15 years in the US market, they are now serious players in the mid-size car and small SUV markets. Expect nothing different from Chinese cars.

The only Fiats you can buy in the US are the very fast, and expensive ones from the Ferarri division. By the way, Fiat is now partly owned by GM.