Posted on 05/16/2004 8:03:00 AM PDT by Dog Gone
Their names are Solo, Deer, Leopard, Safe and Sing, and thousands of them are on a boat headed this way.
U.S. car buyers will soon have a new option: very-low-priced Chinese cars, trucks and SUVs.
Four Houston partners will be exclusive dealers for two major manufacturers of Chinese cars for the entire state of Texas, with the first dealership scheduled to open in the city this summer.
China Motors of Texas will import automobiles made by Geely and trucks and SUVs made by Great Wall, China's leading manufacturer of such vehicles.
Cars will sell in the range of $7,000 to $11,000.
The manufacturers and dealers are hoping Americans will embrace these new import brands like they did the Toyota — as opposed to, say, the Yugo, a Yugoslavian import that came to the United States in 1985 with high hopes but flopped so badly it became the butt of jokes.
Auto industry observers say that any consumer love affair with these Chinese products will not develop overnight, no matter how good the vehicles are.
But Ken Rams, CEO of China Motors of Texas, is optimistic.
"We feel the timing is perfect for this," he said.
"Most of the other manufacturers have abandoned the low, entry level of the price market," said Rams, noting: "Chinese car makers are committed to becoming a world force."
Geely and Great Wall are privately owned companies in mainland China.
There will be 24 other China Motors dealers in 13 states.
Rams gave some speculation on pricing. The Geely sports sedan, called Solo, will cost $10,888 fully equipped with leather seats, power windows, a remote control entry system, CD player and wood trim. A fully-equipped Solo sedan is $8,888.
Some pickup trucks sell for $7,900, and subcompacts cost $6,900. The prices for the SUVs have not been announced.
Geely offers 3-cylinder and 4-cylinder engines, made in China, as well as a V-6.
Like a charming immigrant still learning the culture, the Web site for Geely USA offers some delightful car descriptions.
For example, it notes that the Solo gives its drivers a special feeling, "making you relaxed and happy. Uneasy no! Lost, no! Fashionable life, and fashionable car!"
As for the Geely sports car, the Leopard: "The infinite vital force and the excellent driving feeling heats up your endless enthusiasm in your blood vessels."
Geely's U.S. operation is so new that the English version of the company's Web site still identifies the cars by their Chinese names: The Leopard is called the "Beauty Leopard," and the Solo goes by "Merrie" and "Haoging."
How enthusiastic will Americans be for these Chinese vehicles?
"There have been many successful foreign car arrivals in the U.S., but we also remember the Yugo," said Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association.
The ability to inspire confidence in the durability of the vehicle and the availability of service networks are the keys to winning acceptance among American consumers, Taylor said.
"The Koreans) dealt with it by giving very long-term warranties and low pricing," he said.
Low-priced Korean vehicles like Kia and Hyundai compete mostly with used cars, Taylor noted.
China Motors vehicles should appeal to consumers who want a new car and warranty at "a low, low price," said Brian Moody, road-test editor at Edmunds.com, a Web site for car buyers and sellers.
The Chinese vehicles won't be competing with Japanese products because manufacturers like Toyota and Honda have moved up-market: "The Civic and Corolla were once bargain-basement priced, but they're not cheap anymore," Moody said.
"Now it's Kias, Hyundais and the Dodge Neon that are among the very inexpensive products. That should be where the turf war is with the Chinese cars."
Winning over car buyers will be an uphill battle for China Motors, Moody said.
Their vehicles may be first-rate, he said, but they'll be entering a U.S. market where they're unproven, and car buying is greatly based on reputation.
"Just ask people at Kia. The Kia Optima is a great value," Moody said, "but the public's perception of the car lags far behind the actual quality of the product."
China Motors cars and trucks are made in China at new plants using state of the art technology, Rams said.
All vehicles come with a free 36-month or 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. For $495 the buyer can get 36 more months, Rams said.
China Motors will have a service department, and any auto shop that repairs Japanese cars will be able to fix Chinese vehicles, said China Motors partner Ted Jonick.
After opening the Houston dealership, most likely near The Woodlands, the partners plan to open a San Antonio operation, followed by the simultaneous openings of two more Houston dealerships and one Dallas showroom.
Rams is a 42-year veteran of the car business. His Ford and Dodge dealerships were in California and Michigan.
In 1985, he gave up cars for greeting card distribution and consulting.
Over the past few years he'd been wanting to get back into the auto trade but said he could not find anything that had significant potential.
Through the Internet he learned that Geely and Great Wall were headed this way, and he contacted the distributor.
His other two partners are Randy Fernandez and Bill Kesler.
David Shelburg, 75, is an executive the North American division of China Motors, based in Phoenix. His son David Shelburg Jr. is president of the company.
The elder Shelburg was previously a dealer for American Motors, and going back much further, the Kaiser. He also helped bring the Subaru to the United States.
Shelburg has visited the Great Wall and Geely factories, and he noted that at the plants, only women do fitting and finishing work on interiors because in China, he said, it is believed that women are more precise than men.
I disagree ~ I have a '90 Ford Brono 4X4 with a 351 cid Cleveland engine that has been bullet proof. The only things I've replaced since '89 have been: valve cover gaskets, engine belt idler pully and one electric window motor. Plus tires, windshield wiper blades, hoses, etc, when needed.
I just hope I don't get one of those darn things caught in the wheel SUV. I hate when that happens.
Nobody but our politicians and a handful of executives should make enough to support a family. Let's cancel all days off, effective immediately, too. >/sarcasm<
The decline of our manufacturing base is an unintended consequence of the transfer of production from the U.S. to China and other countries.
Personally, I think lawyers, CEOs, some doctors, and lots of politicians are overpaid. You may even agree.
Take a look:
Reuben Mark has been CEO of Colgate-Palmolive for 20 years, and he got $5,050,000 salary$11,919,000 (other) $131,000,000 (stock gains) $147,970,000 (total)
George David has been CEO of United Technologies for 10 years got $4,000,000 (salary) $301,000 (other) $66,227,000 (stock gains) $70,527,000 (total)
Need I continue? But lets destroy America's manufacturing base to get those auto workers. By golly, we'll bust their cookies! That'll show 'em. Bring 'em down, by God! (/sarcasm)
When I retired in '86 at age 55 from a union truck driving job, we were getting 11 paid (including our birthday) holidays, 9 days sick leave and 4 (or was it 5) weeks vacation a year. :)
Everyday is a holiday when you're retired. :):)
Just as someone can get lucky and buy a Ford that's as reliable as a typical Toyota Camry, someone could be unlucky and get a Camry that turns out to be lemon.
By and large though, in surveys of actual owners, the average Toyota is way more reliable than the average Ford.
It's been that way for decades, now.
It's not accidental, it's planned obsolescence.
So it sorta balances out...unless you're retired! (Congratulations!)
You can read all of the socialist garbage you want to in CR.
I'm reporting actual stuff from 55 years of vehicle ownership both two and four wheel, foreign and domestic.
You drive what you want to drive and I'll drive what I want to drive ~ I don't need some goofy magazine to make my decisions for me!
Fords rule!!
The benefits have probably gotten better for Teamsters since I retired. :)
The fact that the CEO's of a lot of American companies take a ridiculosly large portion of the companies profits as salary is not relevant, I'm not paying $75.00 for a tube of toothpaste.
A lot of Americans however, are paying 40K and up for new cars, not including insurance.
The average American homeowner with a family pays 10-15K for insurance of all kinds, a defacto tax on the working man to pay the trial lawyers.
This is not about encouraging the decline of the manufacturing base, the free market will dictate winners and losers.
Detroit was crippled by the ascendancy of the Japanes import, and may very well be about to be crippled again.
They will have nobody but themselves to blame.
There is nothing capitalistic about the UAW benefit package.
Actually, the flags we wave today come from China.
This is somewhat off the mark. I would say simplicity of design and self-service are the key elements.
I recall the feeling of satisfaction I had at being able to replace the water pump in a half hour flat on my 1977 Honda Civic, which I bought new. Of course, that was around the 10th time. LOL.
Of course, all that is academic without a widespread source of replacement parts at equally reasonable prices!
There are very few Chinese bikess for rentin a prolific rental business. I was told its because it takes up too much time going and getting them when they quit.
It's customers like you that are why Ford/GM/Chrysler continue to believe that they can get away with making the same crap they've always made.
Remember the Pinto?
AK-47s?
I've never owned a Pinto ~ if it doesn't have a big booming V8 engine I won't drive it!
What kinda vehicle do you drive, you don't seem to have a clue about autos made since the 80's?
Start living in the real world and not in magazine fantasy world.
Don't forget SKS's ~ they are first rate according to friends that have (sporterized versions) them. :)
So you're opposed to the auto workers - who surely think of themselves as working men and women - but you seem to deplore the fact that trial lawyers have imposed a sort of tax on such people.
And yet I see no objection to the compensation trial lawyers get...
As for CEO pay, it all comes down to costs versus profits. True, toothpaste does not cost $75.00. But the aggregate cost of various consumables has an effect on the budget. So if you wish for your objections to be coherent, I cannot see why you oppose the auto workers but fail to take CEOs to task.
Now before you claim capitalism as the basis for CEO pay, keep in mind that shareholders have little say in who is elected to the board. There is a single slate of candidates with no alternatives, and withholding a vote does not prevent the election of the chosen candidates. Keep in mind also that CEO pay versus average employee pay has expanded from a ratio of 1:40 to 1:1000 today.
However. Lowering the wage scale tends to hit everyone. That's you, and me, and everyone you and I know.
Beware sacrificing Americans to the god of low prices. That false god is insatiable and will one day eat you!
>>Every piece of Chinese junk that fills the shelves at Wal-Mart, Harbor Freight, insert store of your choice, is a substandard piece of crap. It is made to look like, resemble, a product that Americans associate with a good quality product formerly manufactured or sold in this country.
Funny, my Chinese made digital watch has lasted five years, been in rivers, banged on rocks, everything else. Many of the components in my PC are made in China. Many of yours probably are also. Even those who claim to boycott China usually end up buying stuff from them, unless they build their own computers. All the major computer manufacturers offshore now. My other Chinese made electrical devices all do just fine.
Lets look back at this thread 5 years from now and see who was right. I predict that when that time comes, Chinese cars will be very common in the US. You know why? Because American cars in the lower price range really really suck. Buying a Saturn or Neon is like taking the money out of your wallet, putting ketchup on it, and eating it. My Sentra ran for 10 years and the only maintenance I ever had to do (other than Spark Plugs, oil, other routine stuff) was replace the alternator, which I did myself without much trouble. Try that in an American car, and let me know how it goes.
>>I'd rather buy a cheap car made by a Chinese commie than a vehicle made by an American
Wow, you on lunch break over at Kerry headquarters. You would fit in fine there with lying spin like that. The real statement was
>>I'd rather buy a cheap car made by a Chinese commie than a vehicle made by an American Democrat union moron.
Whether or not you agree with that statement, to cut off the last three words and act like the sentence is the same is not just misleading, it is outright dishonest.
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