"A harbinger of popping Chinese bubble."
This might simply be the popping of our own (western)Chinese bubble. As automakers from around the world rushed to fill the expected orders for import cars, China is showing that it would rather produce cars for it's own population.
They can allow the glut to occur, forcing a variety of auto companies to fade, then bail out the more prize facilities, continuing on with their own brands.
More and more Western businesses are discovering the true depths of Chinese inscrutability!
Every week or more often I get to say I am amazed that this or that is happening. Common sense told me that all these american manufacturers are gonna get screwed in china. After china has all the plants and know how they will make up a excuse to toss out the americans and they will cheat on copyrights and take over the industry.
I hate to say it and hate to see it but they deserve whatever happens to them.
It is true that China wants to build their "own" industry, not more subsidiaries of multinationals. However, if they use this overcapacity to wean out Western companies, their collateral damage would be too high. They will have an economic bust at least for a while, which they may not be able to escape. Remember Tienanmen Uprising? That erupted because China is in a recession at the time. Imagine what will happen if Chinese economy really tanks, as S. Korea or Japan did. Things can get really ugly fast.