Posted on 08/22/2005 9:03:54 PM PDT by Lake
Chinese car makers gear up to take on western competitors
Jonathan Watts in Beijing Thursday July 7, 2005 The Guardian
European consumers will soon be driving Chinese-made cars, after the arrival in Belgium this week of what is expected to be a new wave of manufacturing exports from the workshop of the world. The first Landwind vehicles, manufactured by the Jiangling car company, were unloaded at Antwerp on Tuesday. In a sign of the competition this presages for an already crowded market, all 200 vehicles have already been sold at almost half the price of rival models by better-known European, American, Japanese and Korean brands.
On sale for less than €18,000 (£12,000), the five-door 4x4s are seen as the advance party for an invasion of low-cost cars made by Chinese manufacturers and their foreign partners, both of which are ramping up production at a speed that is far outstripping demand. The Dutch car dealer Peter Bijvelds, who has distribution rights for 27 European coun tries, said he expected to sell 2,000 Landwinds this year.
In the short term, this is unlikely to worry rival European manufacturers. Many consumers are also initially likely to dismiss an unknown brand from a country better known for producing toys and buttons. But if past experience of Japanese and Korean car imports is any guide, the scorn will be replaced by respect.
The wave of Chinese cars comes with growing concern about the rising economic power of the country. A flood of imports to Europe has prompted the EU to consider imposing tariffs on Chinese shoes.
The US meanwhile has the biggest bilateral trade deficit with China yet, sparking calls for China to revalue its currency. There is also concern in Washington about the plans of China's state oil company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, to buy the US energy company Unocal.
Jiangling, which is 30% owned by Ford, is almost unknown outside its base in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. Last year its factories in southern China produced only 50,000 vehicles, almost exclusively for domestic drivers. But, backed by infusions of cheap capital from the state and staffed by low-priced labour, it is part of a rush of Chinese companies into the overseas market.
Chery Automotive has announced plans to export up to 250,000 cars to the US in two years. Analysts have shrugged this off, saying its production capacity is just 80,000 vehicles. But if price is a deciding factor, Chery must be taken seriously. Its M14 convertible - designed with the Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina - is expected to sell for about £10,000, 30% cheaper than most of its rivals.
Brilliance - one of China's biggest car companies - is upgrading its four-door saloon with air-conditioning, an advanced sound system and central locking to sell in Europe within two years.
These moves appear to mark a shift in the state's industrial strategy. China encouraged foreign giants such as Volkswagen and General Motors to sign joint ventures that capitalise on labour costs as low as £60 a month to make cheap cars for the domestic market.
In the past year, however, attention has shifted to the overseas market, after a glut in production and sluggish sales hit prices and profits.
The biggest short-term threat to European jobs will come from familiar brands involved in Chinese joint ventures. This month the first shipment of 150 Chinese-made Honda Jazz cars will arrive in Europe, and within five years the company plans to build 50,000 cars with its partners - the Guangzhou Auto Group and Dongfeng Motor Group Co - for export to the EU.
:-(
Any fool stupid enough to buy something they would build deserves the consequences. Shoot, they can't even make a $5 window blind that lasts for over three years. Same deal as with the Japs when we had to westernize them in the 50's. We all bought their junk.
What? WalMart won't be opening up dealerships?
Yeah, Buick is considered a car for educated middle-class white collars in China.
oh PLEASE! Just because a asian co made it DOESNT MEAN it automatically gets respect! Prove that it isnt a piece of crap thru good designs and durablity and people will respcet it.
Forewarned is forearmed, say what one likes, the Chinese are not a stupid people. Read the label next time on vehicle parts, I recently purchased a brand new water pump made in China (and it was quality) for 1/2 the price of a rebuilt one.
And the fat assed Wal-Mart consoomer John and Jane Q. Shmuck America will gobble them up. And the Chinese will stop buying Buicks.
Add up today's total market share for Japanese, European, and now Korean automobiles. If the Chinese reach even 10%, we lose our auto industry. And it will be our collective fault.
I can picture these meetings between AmeriCON automakers and their Chinese "partners": Fat, red-faced white guys in blue suits drunk on cheap Chinese beer and their own arrogance, cracking "long duck dong" jokes and thinking they ripped off "the little ch-nks". Meanwhile, the Chinese smile politely, nod their head, and draw up plans to rob us blind through surveilance, hacking, spies, and our own corruption and greed.
They are already doing it. We have "Chevy". They have "Chery". They are copying designs from Honda and Rolls-Royce as well. When they learn how to make their own product, they will make it for less, and sell it to us. It really is going to be the "China Century". It didn't have to be, though...
That would seem to be an Isuzu Amigo
Compare the photo of the new ChiCom cars above and the old Isuzu's below 
They don't look a bit similar. However, how many ways can one redesign a SUV?
The trick for the Chinese is how well they can build the cars. I suspect they will need a GOOD warranty, along with low prices, to sell the cars in the US.
Quote: Any fool stupid enough to buy something they would build deserves the consequences. Shoot, they can't even make a $5 window blind that lasts for over three years. Same deal as with the Japs when we had to westernize them in the 50's. We all bought their junk.
Autoline Detroit had some industry insiders on the show that saw the cars the chinese were making and were shocked over the good quality...way beyond what they ever expected.
The chinese are smart little bastards and will not make the same mistake of the YUGO.
"...I recently purchased a brand new water pump made in China (and it was quality) for 1/2 the price of a rebuilt one."
Hope the pump works well for many years. Seriously.
"The chinese are smart little bastards and will not make the same mistake of the YUGO."
Sounds like I misspoke a bit.
Isn't £12,000 something like 25,000 dollars in the US? That ain't no deal. Like was has already been said, I've yet to see anything from China that is a quality product.
"""Like most product in any market, customers are going to decide its merit."""
That was true 20 years ago. Today there are so many brands of cars, TVs, electronics, etc, you don't know what's what.
And by the time your purchase goes on the blink it's probably out of production and there's even more junk to choose from .... all claiming to be Rolls Royce quality.
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