in his Washington Post column Fareed Zakharia predicts:
Ten years ago, China exported a relatively small number of cars. Today, it is the world’s leading exporter of automobiles, handily ousting Japan from that position. It is especially strong in electric vehicles. Two of every three EVs made in the world are made in China. As we think about China’s weaknesses these days (and it has several), it is worth remembering China’s formidable strengths and the degree to which it is intertwined into the global economy. Nio’s cars are designed in Munich. It has research and development centers in San Jose and Oxford, England, as well as in Beijing and Shanghai. It does its manufacturing in Hefei, China.
At the present state of the art electric vehicles are more practical in China and Europe than they are here. Chinese commute distances are a fraction of those here.
There are other barriers as well. Here in the U. S. most states require that automobiles be sold through dealerships. It’s complicated but that’s the gist of it. In other words to get market penetration here it isn’t enough to have the cars to sell; you’ve got to build an organization and that can be tough. Frequently, foreign manufacturers forge relationships with auto companies that already have those organizations and I expect the Chinese to do that, too, but it won’t happen overnight. The Europeans are quite comfortable with protectionism which may prove a barrier to EVs manufactured in China.
I’ll keep my eyes opened.
Musk intends to move some, maybe all, Tesla manufacturing to China. That will allow him to get access to China’s ultramodern and highly optimized (5G/AI) factories. He also gets access to the Chinese auto market, which is twice as big as ours.
Is it possible that Tesla will become the outlet for US sales of Chinese EV’s?
Aren’t Chinese cars already here?
Volvo is owned by Geely, a Chinese car manufacturer.
It gets confusing to access a car’s nationality. Is a Toyota Highlander a US made car with its 70% US content, assembled in Indiana, and designed by a company that is headquartered in Japan but has a stock listing in the NYSE? Is Tesla assembled in China using mostly China made parts considered a US car because it was designed by an American company?
“Here in the U. S. most states require that automobiles be sold through dealerships”
That was true. Tesla’s success with the direct to consumer model has inspired other “new brands” like Rivian to do the same and a push from the “legacy” manufacturers to go into direct sales as well.