Chinese Automobile Giant To Invest 9Bn Baht In Thailand

[maidu]

In the 2013 'Press Freedom Index' China scored 173 out of 179 countries.

Edited March 30, 2013 by maidu

[ginjag]

Remember the Datsun Cherry---baby car----engine not bad BUT what a rotbox---sorry it was about 1970s I think.

I had a Datsun Cherry - blew two engines! Hated the bloody thing, no end of trouble with it!

Other than just one other (Shogun 3ltr) the only Japanese car I ever owned (until now).

Cars: Ford Escourt Mk1 Mexico (USA), Austin Maxi (UK), Rover SDI V8 (ex CID car at 19 lol!), Cherry (Yuk - Jpn), Rover 216 (UK), Citroen BX (Fr), Rover 800 (UK), Jaguar S-Type V8 (UK/USA), Shogon (Jpn), Dodge Charger (USA), Renault Megane (Fr), Triumph TR7 (UK), BL Ambulance (project, erm don't ask - UK), Fiat 500 (Ital - bought for family member who used it once!), Morris Minor (UK - 1957 model beauty), and several other Euro and American cars (many of these at the same time or overlapped).

Now I have another Japanese car - Mitsu Lancer, another piece of crap that breaks down all the time. No, Japanese cars are not desirable for me!

Please try a toyota Vios, I had one here 5 years and only had to have it servicedm 5 big seats fast enough for anyone--quiet --and economy good---resale value among the best, Had 2 honda Jazz I travel Udon Jomptien... and never a breakdown....165 kilometers,,,, Unless you want to give Sri Lanka a try--go back in time there they are still upkeeping Westminsters--A40---Minor 1000---Brill there.

Sorry this should read 165,000 kilometers Ha Ha

[Publicus]

Based on this thread, it seems that China-bashing is fast approaching Thailand-bashing as the national sport of many of TVF's best and brightest.

For those who talk about a preference for foreign brands in China - where do you reckon the vast majority of those foreign brands are manufactured?

On a side-note, in Oz there is still an ignorant minority which slam Korean cars, based on their quality standards of 20 years ago. I have no doubt that those checking on TFV in 2033 will find the same ignorance still being displayed here.

Dream on.

Chinese look down on Chinese who own a Chinese car, pointing out that the Chinese made car is "cheaper." A Chinese will never complete the sentence by saying "cheaper and junk," but that's the reality for the people who know best, i.e., the Chinese themselves. National socialism with Chinese characteristics has produced a mangle of privately owned car manufacturers competing against state owned carmakers. The state owned carmakers of course get subsidies in violation of WTO rules but, perhaps worse, kill the market for the private auto makers. The mangling of the auto industry in the CCP's PRC is not an isolated matter - the state interferes with every industry, which of course squeezes, impedes or, preferably, drives out the private sector. Last year state television spent a lot of time attacking Volkswagen because of its highly successful sales record in China.

Foreign auto brands are under attack in the state owned and operated media, an attack which now is extending to Apple, Carrefour and other globally respected brands. The Boyz in Beijing have firmly decided to drive out of China foreign brands that produce both consumer and durable goods because the domestic producers, whether private or public, cannot compete. This recent negative development has communicated to global brands around the world that the CCP no longer wants their competition on the Mainland. It also is the result of the Chinese not being able to grab the technology of BMW, Benz, Buick, VW, Chevy and other popular brands that dominate the car market in China, to include other industries such as Apple, Yum and so many others.

So, as the new leaders of the CCP-PRC know they need to change the paradigm of their economy, from export based to domestic consumer based, this leaves the Chinese consumer stuck with consumer and durable goods of low quality which rapidly are moving further downscale. This is not a formula for a successful future. At the rate the CCP is mismanaging and malgoverning its PRC, the only way 2033 would be a good year for China is if China has managed to recover from its economic and political collapse due to the corrupt regime of the dictators who rule in their own interests only.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/chinas-debt-crisis-looms-economists-say-369183.html

Q.E.D.

p.s. your use of the Falun Gong produced Epoch Times as a reference is noted.

The Epoch Times is a general interest daily newspaper which includes global news, sports, features, entertainment, cultural, economics, political coverage etc. If you visit its home page, you can see it looks like the homepage, respectively, of Microsoft, Yahoo, the New York Times, the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and any other general interest news website. Falun Gong is a religious group which I among others consider to be very weird and bizzare, but I'm not Chinese; I'm sure many Chinese consider Western theistic religions to be much if not all hokus-pokus - indeed many of the Western peoples ourselves consider theism to be a lot of hokus-pokus.

The Epoch Times is well connected to respected academics, professionals; it publishes in 35 countries in 21 languages. It certainly is well connected to experts on the CCP-PRC and is the most salient source I have found in respect to developments on the Mainland of the PRChina.

[Publicus]

But when you see the stories about the attacks on Apple this week, it is obvious that there is a tactic to smear western brands in China.

This interesting opinion piece from the Economist looks at some possible reasons behind the attacks, one of which is quid pro quo for treatment of Chinese firms abroad e.g. Huawei in the US.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2013/03/apple-china

Speaking of the treatment of Beijing government owned spyware firms in the United States:

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/12/174135800/cyber-attacks-terrorism-top-u-s-security-threat-report

[scorecard]

that is good news. love to see that bilateral cooperation and Asian economy grow.

Perhaps. I suspect this is so they can more easily sell cheap sub-standard cars to Thailand and it's ASEAN neighbours.

needs no genius to figure that out. its of course about selling more cars and selling them more easily. thats the business is about.

"side effects" are that they are create jobs and increase living standards. its good.

I suspect that some folks have a little outdated overall 'image' of Chinese manufacturers.

Sure some have their head in the sand - so do some US and European companies / manufacturers.

On the other hand there's a growing number of Chinese companies who aim to be best in class, and they are quickly moving towards that goal.

Why do I make these comments?

1. I've managed many organizational / strategy renewal / start up projects for Chinese companies and they impress, especially what I call the new young Chinese entrepreneurs who are keen to be successful based on building a valid strong image, based on innovation and quality, and not based on corruption and collusion..

2. I've taught MBA programs, in English, in two world class Chinese university business schools. The majority of students are smart, polite, and have strong focus and direction, strong positive ethics, and they are very willing to learn. I've had several students (owners / CEOs of chinese companies), show me their long-term business models / business strategies. They are clever, they impress again and again.

On the other hand, are there old Chinese companies still locked in the past? Yes, of course - same as every country in the world.

[DavoTheGun]

that is good news. love to see that bilateral cooperation and Asian economy grow.

Perhaps. I suspect this is so they can more easily sell cheap sub-standard cars to Thailand and it's ASEAN neighbours.

needs no genius to figure that out. its of course about selling more cars and selling them more easily. thats the business is about.

"side effects" are that they are create jobs and increase living standards. its good.

I suspect that some folks have a little outdated overall 'image' of Chinese manufacturers.

Sure some have their head in the sand - so do some US and European companies / manufacturers.

On the other hand there's a growing number of Chinese companies who aim to be best in class, and they are quickly moving towards that goal.

Why do I make these comments?

1. I've managed many organizational / strategy renewal / start up projects for Chinese companies and they impress, especially what I call the new young Chinese entrepreneurs who are keen to be successful based on building a valid strong image, based on innovation and quality, and not based on corruption and collusion..

2. I've taught MBA programs, in English, in two world class Chinese university business schools. The majority of students are smart, polite, and have strong focus and direction, strong positive ethics, and they are very willing to learn. I've had several students (owners / CEOs of chinese companies), show me their long-term business models / business strategies. They are clever, they impress again and again.

On the other hand, are there old Chinese companies still locked in the past? Yes, of course - same as every country in the world.

One has to wonder what you were managing, the Chinese Business people of China would no more buy a Chinese car then anybody else who knew anything about them.! And that is a cold faced fact. But you are quite right about some of what you stated.

[justathought]

It will not take the Chinese too long to beat the yank/european aotomobile competition for quality/value for money. However, they will have their work cut out when it comes to Japanese & Korean cars.

[DavoTheGun]

The Chinese are producing cars of the old Communist Bloc era, like Lada, Tatra, Skoda to nave a few, but probably when quality manufacturers set up there own plants, in China, for example Skoda, (Volkswagen) thigs may improve, but not in the foreseeable future.

[thaicbr]

Davo.....They have a stand at the motor show. Impressive stand giving info on the cars and manufacturing including cut down engines on display. On display they only have 3 models but they looked OK. If anyone hasn't been pop down and have a look tomorrow

Nothing Communist block era there I can tell you.

They are maybe only a few years away from the best that Japan produces.

Edited March 30, 2013 by thaicbr

[thaicbr]

It will not take the Chinese too long to beat the yank/european aotomobile competition for quality/value for money. However, they will have their work cut out when it comes to Japanese & Korean cars.

Please don't include American automobiles in with European ones. Yes Ford (Europe) and Opel/Vauxhall are American owned. But in general design are superior to yank cars

[Publicus]

It will not take the Chinese too long to beat the yank/european aotomobile competition for quality/value for money. However, they will have their work cut out when it comes to Japanese & Korean cars.

Davo.....They have a stand at the motor show. Impressive stand giving info on the cars and manufacturing including cut down engines on display. On display they only have 3 models but they looked OK. If anyone hasn't been pop down and have a look tomorrow

Nothing Communist block era there I can tell you.

They are maybe only a few years away from the best that Japan produces.

[Publicus]

i like the play with geometrical shape in that building. impressive piece of modern architecture.

looks little bit too foggy. did you took that photo early in the morning?

it seems there is also some reflection, like if you were photographing trough a glass window right in front of you. that can be avoided with the use of a polarizing filter. a polarizing filter can also help to increase the contrast and to capture the sky blue of the sky which otherwise often turned out boring grey on the photo.

for the other photo, that one of the road - it is a great shot of urban life.

but i would have taken a few little steps to the right side - to bring a even more symmetric composition to the frame. if you play with symmetry it must me 100% or you lose the effect.

thanks for sharing your photos.

I too have some photos to share. I guess you'd love these too.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-smog-emergency-in-china-2013-1?op=1#ixzz2LeIIelxO

[justathought]

It will not take the Chinese too long to beat the yank/european aotomobile competition for quality/value for money. However, they will have their work cut out when it comes to Japanese & Korean cars.

Please don't include American automobiles in with European ones. Yes Ford (Europe) and Opel/Vauxhall are American owned. But in general design are superior to yank cars

agreed, my apologies

[justathought]

But when you see the stories about the attacks on Apple this week, it is obvious that there is a tactic to smear western brands in China.

This interesting opinion piece from the Economist looks at some possible reasons behind the attacks, one of which is quid pro quo for treatment of Chinese firms abroad e.g. Huawei in the US.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2013/03/apple-china

Speaking of the treatment of Beijing government owned spyware firms in the United States:

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/12/174135800/cyber-attacks-terrorism-top-u-s-security-threat-report

I am sure the american ones would be more interesting

Edited March 31, 2013 by justathought

[jackspratt]

The Chinese are producing cars of the old Communist Bloc era, like Lada, Tatra, Skoda to nave a few, but probably when quality manufacturers set up there own plants, in China, for example Skoda, (Volkswagen) thigs may improve, but not in the foreseeable future.

Volkswagen has been manufacturing cars in China since around 1984.

[DavoTheGun]

The Chinese are producing cars of the old Communist Bloc era, like Lada, Tatra, Skoda to nave a few, but probably when quality manufacturers set up there own plants, in China, for example Skoda, (Volkswagen) thigs may improve, but not in the foreseeable future.

Volkswagen has been manufacturing cars in China since around 1984.

I think you are wrong! not Skoda anyway. What else ??

[kkerry]

BBC last year had a good documentary, China on Four Wheels. This clip includes a look inside a Great Wall factory.

There is also India on Four Wheels with a look at a Tata factory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYA6o-YMif0

[jackspratt]

The Chinese are producing cars of the old Communist Bloc era, like Lada, Tatra, Skoda to nave a few, but probably when quality manufacturers set up there own plants, in China, for example Skoda, (Volkswagen) thigs may improve, but not in the foreseeable future.

Volkswagen has been manufacturing cars in China since around 1984.

I think you are wrong! not Skoda anyway. What else ??

Remain ignorant, or look it up for yourself.

Your choice.

Edited March 31, 2013 by jackspratt

[davehowden]

"The company said that Thailand, while having low wages, also has better infrastructures and better industry potentials than rival countries."

So are Thai wages lower than in China?

What does "better infrastructures and better industry potentials" mean, better than China?

Very mixed review from the OZ versions.

[Tomtomtom69]

I would use the term 'Automobiles' loosely.

Probably some of the worst cars in history were excreted from China.

This is the best they can do....COPY...badly I may add.

some western car manufactures would love to have at least a litte of the economic grow rates Chinese car manufacturers enjoy. but they haven't they are in a crisis or the the Chinese bought them already.

guess whose laugh will last longer?

As far as I was aware the demand for western cars in China was THE growth market and demand is apparently rather significant.

As for guessing whose laugh will last longest - all i can add to that statement is that person who won't be laughing will be the poor sod who buys one of these.

Just try to get a Chinese manufacturer/local dealership to honour their warranty when the car breaks (which it frequently will) . Good luck on that one!

After spending 3 years in China I can attest that Chinese cars are complete and utter rubbish.

I've also lived in China and agree with you on this one BUT in a sign that China wants to expand it's influence outside it's own borders, it wants to set-up a manufacturing operation here in Thailand and that of course is a good thing for the economy. One can only hope that over time, Chinese car manufacturers get better and better but with more experience this is most likely to be the case. Think about how Korean cars sucked 20 years ago but they are actually pretty good now - the same thing will likely happen with Chinese cars such as Great Wall, BYD etc.

[keemapoot]

^

Think about how Korean cars sucked 20 years ago but they are actually pretty good now - the same thing will likely happen with Chinese cars such as Great Wall, BYD etc.

I'll bet many members on this board are old enough to remember when even Japanese cars sucked. Sure, China will get it right. A big reason is because of the huge jump they had in the beginning from companies like VW and (GM) Buick in developing their first JV car programs.

I watched a highly rated Iranian movie recently and was wondering what all the cars I saw were. I googled it and found out they have developed their own highly sophisticated auto production capability as well.

It's engineering, but not rocket science.

Edited March 31, 2013 by keemapoot

[Badbanker]

I am old enough to remember when in the early 70's that Japanese cars were just copies of British cars. I remember mechanics complaining about them all the time!

IN the 80 they started to get better and of course the 90 became excellent.

[ignis]

I know this is about cars but also about China, as a Kid in the 50's my Grand Parents visited us in the UK, of course as a kid the best part was the presents, Colouring book and pencils in a presentation pack with a picture of Toronto on the box....... and on the back .Made in China.

Present day I have one Dreambox bought over 6 years ago, box says product of China, has never gone wrong use most days in the bedroom, got another a year later but cost 3 x more and nothing but problems cannot find where it was made..

As said before friend has a Chery Tiggo, great car never a problem, quick look still think it a Mk2 Toyota Rav4, yet at 800 something thousand baht, is a great deal.

[maidu]

"The company said that Thailand, while having low wages, also has better infrastructures and better industry potentials than rival countries."

So are Thai wages lower than in China?

What does "better infrastructures and better industry potentials" mean, better than China?

Very mixed review from the OZ versions.

Ms Yingluck and her clone are about to saddle Thais (and their children and grandchildren) with crippling 50+ years of debt - saying that Thailand is currently woefully behind in infrastructure. Yet the above quotes (from whom?) claim the opposite is true. Which is it?

[scorecard]

"The company said that Thailand, while having low wages, also has better infrastructures and better industry potentials than rival countries."

So are Thai wages lower than in China?

What does "better infrastructures and better industry potentials" mean, better than China?

Very mixed review from the OZ versions.

Ms Yingluck and her clone are about to saddle Thais (and their children and grandchildren) with crippling 50+ years of debt - saying that Thailand is currently woefully behind in infrastructure. Yet the above quotes (from whom?) claim the opposite is true. Which is it?

I like your comment "Ms Yingluck and her clone are about to saddle Thais (and their children and grandchildren) with crippling 50+ years of debt".

What should of course be happening is the right development / investment environment so that privae enterprise can flourish and provide employment which would take a big percentage of Thais into a much better quality of life through their own productivity, supported as needed of course by public infrastructure.

But lets go straight to the bottom line - The astronomical public debt "..... saddle Thais (and their children and grandchildren) with crippling 50+ years of debt" is designed to be just one thing - another bag of money (very very very big bag of money) for the the pt leeches to get their sticky dirty little fingers into / and to keep them strongly under the paymasters baton', all for his own enrichment and to feed his ego.

Edited April 13, 2013 by scorecard

[Naam]

...its planned investment of about 300 million US dollars, or about 9
billion baht, will be to produce 100,000 vehicles in Thailand per year

75,000 out of the planned 100,000 will be produced in wet dreams.

[justathought]

I hope this comes about sooner rather then later

[justathought]

...its planned investment of about 300 million US dollars, or about 9

billion baht, will be to produce 100,000 vehicles in Thailand per year

75,000 out of the planned 100,000 will be produced in wet dreams.

very silly comment

[overherebc]

...its planned investment of about 300 million US dollars, or about 9

billion baht, will be to produce 100,000 vehicles in Thailand per year

75,000 out of the planned 100,000 will be produced in wet dreams.

very silly comment

If you have ever dealt with Chinese companies on quality control then you might understand that there is a lot more involved than just investment.

[NeverSure]

Chinese car crash failure.

Honda Civic vs Ford F150. Civic looks good to me.

Edited April 13, 2013 by NeverSure