Posted on 05/13/2005 2:40:53 AM PDT by Lake
Another automotive entrepreneur plans to import Chinese cars to the United States.
The Geeley Solo is a small, well-equipped sedan that is expected to sell for $6,995.
David Shelburg, whose background includes work for Toledo, Ohio-based Jeep, expects to begin selling cars and trucks made by Chinese automakers Geeley, Baoding Great Wall Automobile Holding Company Ltd. and Zhongxing Automobile Company Ltd., as early as December.
|
|
|
The Geeley Solo is a small, well-equipped sedan that is expected to sell for $6,995. |
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Chery M14.
X-Gene coupe.
Anyways, I'll personally stick to German for now, but China will be the greatest challenge Detroit has ever faced in the next 10 years. Mark my words.
Interestingly enough in July my daughter is going to marry a relative of the distributor I was going to by the Subaru's from. Future son-inlaw's relative and I were talking last year and he mentioned he still has lots of parts from the 360's in one of his barns, but doesn't want to sell anything...yet.
Remember the YUGO !!
And the VW Bug!!!
A few years ago we decided to buy a pool table.
Checked our local dealers, priced them, and then decided to check out prices on the internet.
We found an internet dealer that beat all other prices (had been featured in billiards magazines and had scores of buy recommendations on his site), so we ordered the table. When it arrived, it was beautiful. The guy that set it up said it was of comparable quality to the ones sold for triple the price in our local market, and that the slate was of good quality too.
Couldn't figure out how the internet site could sell so cheaply, till we noticed on the crate that the pool table was shipped in "Made in China."
The thing though is this. If they follow S.Korea's method they mgiht make some headway. Hyundai had the worst quality (even worse than Detroit) for the longest time up and until around 3 yrs ago when their quality started going up until now Hyundai has some of the hgihest quality ratings. Chinese vehicles will obviously have the price point advantage compared to Detroit (and Japan and Korea for that matter), and the only factor will be quality.
Anyways, I hope Detroit does not sit still and let China pass them by (in much the same way they sat sucking their thumbs as Japan passed them in the 70s and Korea passed them a couple of years ago in quality).
Detroit better treat the threat matrix of future Chinese imports with meticulous focus because if they do not their (Detroit's) death knell will be rung by the chinese 8-10 yrs from now.
It's ok to import the Chinese cars. So long as we teach those union thugs and all those stupid autoworkers who number in the hundred thousands and all the satellite businesses that support them and the industry a lesson while the Big Three bite the dust, who cares?
GM will just attempt to sell cars in China, manufactured in China to Chinese who won't buy anything but Chinese manufacturers.
~or so I've read from some truly whacked out posters who think the US needs to lose more jobs. It's Capitalism!~
DETROIT and Quality are an oxymoron........
If they come up wih an SUV at a good price, sign me up.
Cars made in the U.S. are so expensive, I find myself asking, "how many bedrooms and baths does it come with?"
6,995$ is unbelievable!! Seriously at that price I will buy my children cars when they turn 16.
Yugo - part II -
Another piece of junk to be eaten by the Mackinaw Bridge and tossed into the straits.
Your being a little hard on Detroit don't you think?
The most reliable, comfortable, enjoyable car I own is a Ford.
The trunk is so big I'll bet the mob would love to have one, probably fit 7-8 dead bodies in it.
Okay, so it is 40 years old..
You would then be George Soros...
The Chinese are good enough that GM is buying engines there to put in their trucks. They make some of their I-4/5/6 Vortec engines there now.
And since the Chinese are buying the engine controls and other electronics from the Euro tech houses (Siemens, Bosch) and some from the Japanese (Denso AC and ECM), they're going to be at least as reliable as their European *and American* counterparts that use those systems. The only parts that are going to be of concern are the body/chassis and the suspension - basically anything that's just metal, and I don't think that's going to be a problem for them since the West has taught them how to make acceptable steel for cars.
I don't think they're going to have a problem with the interiors, either. *Nobody* makes as cheap *and* crappy a plastic interior as GM. Even the old first-gen Hyundai Excel/Pony had a better looking interior than the GM garbage of the same period. Their problem was that they got a little cheap on the glues.
That said, there is no reason why the domestic manufacturers could not compete and make a similar car in the same price range - except the UAW and stupid frivolous lawsuits against them that keep prices high.
Yes, all cars imported to or sold in the US are subject to the same impact, safety, and emissions tests. If they don't pass, you can't sell them.
That's why up until very recently, the very tiniest cars like the Mercedes A-class and the Japanese Kei cars were not sold here. Now they can meet the safety standards, so they're starting to wander over.
If you have a Seagate hard drive in your computer, it was probably made in China. Most of them last quite a while.
Manufacture of a hard drive is probably the most difficult task in consumer good manufacture, and the Chinese have mastered it. Compared to that, a car is easy.
" If you have a Seagate hard drive in your computer, it was probably made in China. "
Yes it was and it crashed a month ago!!! It lasted for about a ywar and 4 months!!!!
Hopefully the chinese won't "master" the car or else i would have to buy a new car every year!!!!
Suprisingly, most of the Chinese Seagates make it out of warranty, which is now 3-5 years on a lot of models. They do make cheap-OEM-quality drives with a 1 year warranty to the OEM - I don't recommend those.
Of course, I prefer Hitachi/IBMs.
If you build them - they will come.....
HELLO GM, Ford, anybody... !?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.