Posted on 06/11/2005 6:46:30 AM PDT by voletti
Korean cars gave Detroit fits in the late '90s by undercutting domestic small cars on price and outdoing them on quality -- then moving up into other segments. Autos from China could provide more lower-cost competition for the Big Three at a time when GM and Ford Motor Co. (F ) are already reeling. That could cost them, along with Chrysler (DCX ), more market share and prod them to move more of their own production offshore.
How fast can the Chinese gear up? The way things are going, it won't take 20 years to match Toyota Motor Corp. (TM ) quality levels, as it did for the Koreans. And with Chinese auto assembly workers earning $2 an hour -- vs. $22 in Korea and nearly $60 in the U.S. for wages and benefits -- it may not be long before China has the wherewithal to start selling competitively priced cars overseas. "The Chinese are probably five or six years away from being able to sell a competent low-end car," says auto analyst Maryann N. Keller.
The Chinese government is putting its heft behind the export push -- subsidizing the export drive of such local players as Chery and giving the likes of Honda big incentives. Beijing also is nudging foreign auto makers to divert investment into export production so local partners can become familiar with managing foreign-exchange risk and global supply chains. It's also pushing domestic companies such as Chery, Geely Auto, Brilliance China Automotive (CBA ), and Shanghai Automotive Industry to develop their own brands overseas.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Say what you want about Kia, but I just hit 20k miles without any problems whatsoever.Almost 140K on a '94 Chevy Caprice.
Lemme know when you reach that point (I'll be around!)
If it wasn't for the free market, you'd be driving the 2005 equivalent of a Chevy Citation.
No doubt these cars should be selling in the 1500-2000 dollar range which would still give China a healthy profit...However, our 'Free Trading Americans' figure they will price them the same as American cars of the same size, style, etc...
Just a little more robbery that we are getting used to...
Power grows out of the barrel of a carburetor.Those vehicles barreling down the autohbahn doing 160 KMH aren't running 'carbs'; carbs are rude, crude and obnoxious and distribute fuel unevenly cylinder to cylinder (among a WHOLE host of other problems and shortcomings) ...
Do people realize what kind of impact of the demise of the American auto industry would have on our economy?
St Paul Pioneer Press, June 5, 2005
"No other single industry is linked to as much of U.S. manufacturing or generates as much retail business and employment," the center reported. (Center for Automotive Research) Despite stepped up foreign competitiion, the U.S motor vehicle industry remains the largest in the world.
The study found that the U.S. auto industry adds $292,000 per worker to the value of the products it produced. That compares with $120,000 for all of U.S. manufacturing. Only two other industries - beverage/tobacco and petroleum/coal - do better; both employ far fewer workers than the motor vehicle industry.
No one who is truly free has to belong to a "union shop." As to the illegal aliens they have LULAC, MALDEF, ACLU and others who take the place of unions in representing them. I'm still waiting for someone to describe what unions in the US have done for "the workers" other than take their money for political purposes and help price jobs out of the country.
Thank you.(although I'm not so sure about the "never will be")
The only tools the American worker is destined to need are hamburger flippers and bed pans.Whoa!
Talk about 'smug, baseless arrogance'!
I suggest that with the proper 'ed-u-ka-shun' and ability and will the American worker can be making better use of his time and mental capacity than any other human being in any other country!
For one thing, China's application of taxes on cars does not follow international practices. The price of a locally manufactured saloon car includes 17 percent VAT, 3-8 percent excise, 10 percent purchase tax, as well as import tax on accessories and local tax. This means that 30-40 percent of the purchase price goes on tax of various kinds. As to imported cars, taxes constitute 60 percent of a car purchase price.LOL
If so, certainly not as fast. I've worked in both open shop and union states and the difference on the shop floor in productivity is incredible. These states (predominately in the south but not all) are the ones garnering the most of foreign investment in this country. Those investors aren't stupid.
BTW Toyodas and Hondas don't cost anymore to build in this country. They sell for more because the consumer perceives more value. The UAW will kill off the entire American auto industry.
Forget the 21st century baubles and trinkets you have to distract you (and your children -- who'd be better off getting a classical education) and think about property as a fraction of your salary.
As I understand it, you have mistakingly framed the arguement as one of individual rights: capitalist's rights vs. labor rights... That oversimplification ignores the fact that We the People have legislated an economic disparity by granting capitalists the privilege of limited personal liability when they pool their resources through the act of incorporation.
We the People extend this privilege with the expectation that the resultant economies of scale for commercial investment and growth will benefit all. However, when corporate activities become detrimental to our populace, We the People have the right to impose corrective measures.
This can not be repeated often enough. When you assemble labor, capital, marketing, energy etc. and the end result is greater than the sum of these parts, you have profit. When you assemble these things and the result is less than the sum of these parts, you have loss.
PROFIT IS GOOD, LOSS IS BAD.
When you assemble labor, capital, marketing, energy etc. and the end result is greater than the sum of these parts, you have profit. When you assemble these things and the result is less than the sum of these parts, you have loss.
PROFIT IS GOOD, LOSS IS BAD.
Profit at the expense of American strategic security (economic, reproductive, intellectual, and military) for firms, many of which are owned by the enemy or non-Americans, or often at best Americans who are truly anti-Americans at heart, is a net loss for the United States of America.
If you don't understand that, I pity you. If you don't understand that we are losing ground on all of these fronts at this very moment, you're as blind as can be.
The free market works only when the enemy can't buy into it. Today, he's owning more and more of it. But there's plenty of profit to be made selling America out. Just check the financials and see for yourself.
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.