NAIAS 2008: Hello China

My four problems with Chinese automobiles are as follows:
1. Costs are cut. This means reliability is not as good. If Chinese cars are anything like Chinese scooters, they’ll cost half as much, but a used Honda you can get for the same reduced price will generally perform better and be more reliable.

2. Working conditions. Due to the heavily subcontracted nature of anything from China, quite a bit of whatever you buy will be made in a sweatshop. It’s just like America roughly 70-90 years ago.

3. Patents. Chinese manufacturers almost never pay roayalties, so the original designers – often companies like Bosch that put a huge amount of money into product development, and make much of their profits out of liscensing – get screwed. Unlike the music industry, this lack of funding is a serious problem, and could reduce the rate of development.

Alternately, the Chinese automakers WON’T liscense any patented technologies, and use their own, resulting in inferior ABS brakes and potentially lethal traction control, amongst other things.

4. Regulations.
As much as we all hate the government’s often ridiculous requirements, it’s better than having no regulations at all. I’m personally terrified of buying anything from a country in which government officials are so easily bribed.

Also, my dad owns a Ford. Admittedly, it’s a Mazda3, but it’s awesome anyway, and has already proven it’s crash-safety.

Are these cars cheap? wats the specifications? price? Pls tell me their website or something where i can get more info on these cars.

Opps, it sounds dirty when you say it slow. Maybe after owning one you could call it “Notsofun”

Cheap is good, just not that kind of cheap. Its so bad I think I want one. Note to China: Need to hire an American consultant “Hifun” not good name. Maybe it sounds better if you say it really slow?

A few years ago there were pictures of hundreds of construction cranes in Dubai. Well China has literally thousands. China has over 180 cities with greater than 1 million in population and is an economic powerhouse that if ignored or mocked will stomp us all flat.

For those who have no idea of just what’s going on, some facts:
1) for the past several decades, American and European technology firms have been selling and installing their best in China. Nearly everthing I buy has a made in China label. Comparing Chinese technology to the “dollar” store cheapies is exceptionally false comfort.

I think both American and European companies have been seeding their own demise and have no concept of the sunami to come. Try visiting this “communist dictatorship” and your eyes will bug out at how advanced they are and just how fearsly competitive they are. Trains that go 400+ KM/hr, every conceivable technology, and billions of people all itching to get rich.

If the bozo’s in Detroit don’t start making some smart decisions, they will become coal just like the dinosaurs. Mock China at your peril oh ignorant ones, but be prepared to put your kids in Mandarin classes.

Mick Rommney can gas on about “rebuilding” Detroit and Michigan but its just wind from u know which orifice.

Seriously chaps, you should take a look at the woeful state of your own auto industry before throwing stones. GM needs to be broken up or just die. It keeps limping along like the crippled old man it is.
Ford need to scrap their entire US range bar the F-150, then sell US versions of the excellent, German beating European models solely, and go from there.
Chrysler, well, good to them.

Ok, agreed, this car is a typically garish Chinese bit of mimicry. I’m surprised it wasn’t called “Happy Red Lucky Dragon 88″.
However, while we mock the now, it won’t be long (20 years or so) before the US auto industry is swallowed up by an ascendant Sino car making juggernaut.
UNLESS the US industry is remade. The likes of Tesla and Aptera are the new breed of American hopefuls, and there are more to come, if you Yanks can recognise the potential they and others like them can bring.
So get your bright-young things some cash, then buy their stuff. Save the planet while you are at it. Then be fighting fit for the big punch up to come.

When we see the same corny gold strange use of english letters to make words like “HIFUN” in the toy section at Dollar General, the car just made the statement all on its own… no “Experts” needed to draw a conclusion.
-
Also, China is low on the list of trustworthy countries. It is well known that technology that makes its way INTO China manages to miraculously propagate and emerge elsewhere in China, and elsewhere after it has been shipped from China.
-
Hence, the SMART car sequal, and countless other technological items. They reverse-engineer and replicate at every opportunity.

Went to the Geely English web site and was ammused to see on the site map that they misspelled “automobile” and if you go, make sure you click on each car’s “wonderful download.” And while you’re at it, take a look at the “functional features” aka pictures.

It’s pretty amusing to read these “expert” comments on car quality. This is exactly what we were saying about the first Japanese imports just a few decades ago.

I just hope they don’t call it a “Cadirrac”

Unlike the blatant smart car ripoff, I pulled up a DTS pic and compared the two. Perhaps it was a different model year of DTS, but I see no significant similarities between this (chuckle) HIFUN and the DTS, except for the long middle brake light.
-
The Chinese thing is kind of Cadillac-esque but not enough to draw fire, IMO.
-
I think it’s INCREDIBLY unlikely that China will have any success, at least not in America with Luxury automobiles. It’s just absurd to even try, at least at this point they have a serious perception problem.

I’m with you, Ted. But, I think they’re coming to close to American and European designs. This pic makes me feel like I’m staring at the back of a Cadillac until I see the cheesy name. What kind of name is “HiFun” anyway? If anything, it’s a hint at the poor quality.

brand names seem cheezy as on dollar store items. The cars look nice but I have serious, serious doubts about their quality.
-
I also have issues with yet more foreign brands. We’re exporting cash and importing debt here in the states. Everything has an end, like it or not, accept it or not, there are limits to how bad that situation will get.