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Warren Buffett's Chinese Cars Will Start Killing The US Auto Industry As Soon As This Year
The Business Insider ^ | 1-13-2010 | Industry As Soon As This Year

Posted on 01/13/2010 6:43:49 AM PST by blam

Warren Buffett's Chinese Cars Will Start Killing The US Auto Industry As Soon As This Year

Vincent Fernando
Jan. 13, 2010, 7:12 AM

BYD, the upstart Chinese electric car maker Warren Buffett famously has an investment in, is planning enter the U.S. market as soon as the second half of this year.

Considering the U.S. market entrance by multiple new auto players (from Chinese firms BYD and Geely, to India's Tata and even U.S. upstart Tesla Motors) expect auto industry competition to get far more intense than it already is.

BYD just showed off their latest e6 model and while BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu was short on details, he hinted that BYD first target could be both U.S. companies' and the U.S. government's vehicle fleets:

WSJ: In China, where the e6 will first go on sale, BYD—which stands for Build Your Dreams—expects to sell vehicles for city use by the government, utility companies or fleets of taxis, according to Mr. Wang. BYD expects it could be used similarly in the U.S., while a later, plug-in hybrid vehicle may be more appropriate for individual American consumers.

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: buffett; cars; china; hybrid
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To: TexasFreeper2009

“No US industry can compete against workers in 3rd world countries willing to work for $1 a month.”

If an unskilled, under-educated American worker cannot do better than a 3rd worlders, then he should be content with that 1 dollar, or do something else....such is life. Or do we subject paying incompetent people more just because they are Americans?


61 posted on 01/13/2010 4:05:37 PM PST by artaxerces
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To: Happyinmygarden

Remember that China is younger than the US right now, but in 20 years, this will reverse.

If it takes them 20 years to get it right, their labour costs will have skyrocketed anyways.

China is doomed, between the vise of population control and poverty.


62 posted on 01/13/2010 6:16:51 PM PST by BenKenobi (;)
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To: jiggyboy
It begins and ends there. Safety, reliability, longevity, quality, even usability are not factors.

They once said that about Japanese cars........

And FWIW, look at the impact of the Korean vehicles Kia and Hyundai.............

63 posted on 01/13/2010 6:29:28 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (I want a hoochie-mama for Christmas, only a hoochie-mama will do............)
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To: Hot Tabasco
...look at the impact of the Korean vehicles Kia and Hyundai.............

Every day I laugh at the saps who bought one...

64 posted on 01/13/2010 6:32:09 PM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood (Arjuna, why have you have dropped your bow???)
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To: Hot Tabasco

“poor quality” — already asked and answered.


65 posted on 01/13/2010 6:44:55 PM PST by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: bert

Look at the sales of other foreign car producers. They cannot sell squat in the US until their product is equal to or better than American cars in quality. Price isn’t everything as Kia, Daewoo, Nissan, Toyota, Renault, Yugo all found out.


66 posted on 01/14/2010 3:20:28 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

“No US industry can compete against workers in 3rd world countries willing to work for $1 a month. “

Nor can 3rd world countries compete on any other area thats critical to production.

Labor rates in India have gone up a great deal.


67 posted on 01/14/2010 3:22:06 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: blam

mark for later


68 posted on 01/14/2010 3:31:55 AM PST by Abundy
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To: driftdiver

You are correct however you presume the quality will be inferior. We don’t know that yet, especially for the highly engineered cars.


69 posted on 01/14/2010 4:20:24 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . What ever I do is what shall be)
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To: bert

“You are correct however you presume the quality will be inferior.”

Sure, the quality could be better than Toyota or Mercedes. Really it could!!


70 posted on 01/14/2010 5:00:50 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: BenKenobi

Only time will tell. However, the incredibly fast rise of Christianity in China (in secret, largely) is perhaps a signal that things are changing at a fundamental level.


71 posted on 01/14/2010 6:43:56 AM PST by Happyinmygarden (Yes, actually, I have pretty much seen and heard it all before...)
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