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Another Chinese automaker wants in on U.S.
Hebei Zhongzing is the name of yet another Chinese automaker that plans to have its vehicles sold in the U.S. ZX Automobile Co. of North America, which is a subsidiary of China America Automotive Inc., claims that it will be selling SUVs and pickups manufactured by Hebei Zhongzing in the U.S. by late 2007.
Hebei Zhongzing is a small automaker even by Chinese standards, with a total annual output of last year amounting to only 7,840 vehicles. No vehicle in its current lineup meets U.S. emissions and safety standards, either. The company's president acknowledges that "technology is a huge obstacle," according to Autoweek. Meeting U.S. emissions and safety standards has been a thorn in the side of Malcolm Bricklin, whose insertion of Chery Automobile into the U.S. market has been delayed by this country's stiff safety and emissions requirements.
Zhongzing joins Malcolm Bricklin's Chery Automobile and Shufu Li's Geely Automobile Company in the Chinese auto industry's effort to establish a presence in the biggest automotive market in the world.
[Source: Autoweek]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
steve s 10:15AM (6/26/2006)
I’m curious to see if any of these Chinese vehicles will sell very well in the U.S. I know a lot of American manufactures use Chinese labor to build some or all of their products but at least the money goes to a U.S. company. Will people come in droves to buy a car that supports a communist country?
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Fit 10:27AM (6/26/2006)
Honda is moving all civic production to China.
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23 10:33AM (6/26/2006)
#1 you're totally incorrect on your statement. There is no car in the US that is made in china.
#2 is semi-correct. Honda is moving half it's civic production to china.
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dilslips 10:40AM (6/26/2006)
This looks like a Landrover LR3..Ther boxed shape and profile..Chery also looks like a knock off of Toyota..Hope we get something original and refreshing cars from China!
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Glenn A. 10:52AM (6/26/2006)
I think I can correct everybody.
There are drivetrains from China in US market GM products, including the Buick Rendezvous (which is built in Mexico) and the Chevrolet Equinox (which is built by Suzuki on contract for GM in Canada). Also, the Pontiac Torrent (version of the Equinox).
As for the Honda Civic, no, it is not even 1/2 of the production moving there. Honda build Civics all over the world; if anything, they are adding production in China for Chinese consumption. However, I do believe that Honda is building some cars in China for export, but I do not think it is a car sold in the US, if memory serves. (Danged if I can recall the car though).
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gbh 10:59AM (6/26/2006)
#3, Reading Steve's statement, he said nothing about US cars being made in China. True enough, there is no US car that is made in China. But there's many, many parts that are. `
As to the Civic thing, I haven't paid attention to that one.
The bad news is that you can make (almost) anything you want to (almost) any quality standard you choose. You can do it for a fraction of producing it almost anywhere else.
The good news is that it is not easy to assemble a team of creative, experienced automotive professionals in any part of China. The other (temporary) good news is that monster CAD computers with complicated CFD programs are not yet plentiful in China either.
This won't last long. But I'm fairly confident that it'll be beyond 2008 before there's Chinese cars available in any quantity.
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The other Bob 11:15AM (6/26/2006)
I am sure they want to sell here tariff-free, but they will still think its fine to put huge tariffs on the Michigan-built Cadillac's we are trying to sell there.
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Whiplash 11:18AM (6/26/2006)
I think it's interesting that we are constantly labeled as horrible polluters of the environment yet these foreign carmakers can't meet our emissions standards.
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Howard Kerr 11:39AM (6/26/2006)
"...technology is a huge obstacle"
GEE, ya think?
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Richard Warren 1:37PM (6/26/2006)
"technology is a huge obstacle," Not really, just oursource and you're ready to go. Make an arrangement to buy drivetrains, sublet out for the safety engineering. Some other manufacturer will be more than happy to help out.
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steve s 1:47PM (6/26/2006)
I was speaking of car parts, textiles and so forth. If you buy a car from a Japanese, German or South Korean manufacturer regardless of where they get the parts/where it is built you are supporting a foreign company but a democratic one ( I have no problem with this). Until China becomes a free democratic country I won’t be buying a car from a Chinese company. I think they eventually will, it’s only a matter of time.
“Steve’s Stuff Theory”
People are consumers, the more exposure to a wider range of goods you have the greater the consumer you become. That is why you don’t have wars and upheaval in democratic consumer societies. This disrupts the flow of goods we become accustomed to and pisses people off. When people are angry and can’t get their stuff they get unruly and governments don’t like the masses to be unruly so they do their best to maintain the flow of stuff. After while the people will want more stuff and the cycle continues.
China’s consumers are what will bring it eventually to a democratic nation, and what a powerhouse they will be. You think gas prices are high now?
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Will Wheeler 2:04PM (6/26/2006)
I think just about everything has been stated, but I want to calrify one point. China is very restrictive on what business it let's into the country. Most American business there is a joint venture between the Chinese and American companies. What most people don't realize is that when a company like Ford or GM sets up a plant in China, they agree to share the intelectual property that they brought into the country. There are numerous examples of companies setting up manufacturing in China, only to have the Chinese take over the production under their own brand since an outside company taught them how to build the product. So, these Chinese cars are simply a foot in the door. It wont be long before we have Chinese companies selling chinese made cars that were built with American/Japenese/German technology.
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myh 2:06PM (6/26/2006)
Steve S,
You say you dont want to buy a chinese car because china is non-democratic. thats great but my question is what can you buy without supporting china.
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steve s 2:37PM (6/26/2006)
Yes half the things you buy today seem to have some component that comes from China. There is only so much you can do to mitigate this. Two things that stand out is that most of these items employ Chinese labor but the profits of the item go to an America or other democratic country for the most part. Secondly there is a bit of a difference if my tie is made in China as opposed to my car, one is a tad pricier than the other.
This can be stretched to a bunch of other things such as mideast oil and so forth but how are you expected to know where your gasoline comes from when you fill up your tank(Gulf of Mexico or the Persian Gulf). Buying a Chinese car built in mainland China by Chinese labor from a Chinese company is a little less ambiguous.
One can also argue the opposite; that we should buy as much as possible from China in hopes of speeding up the change of China to a democratic, capitalistic, stuff based economy. Either way it should be interesting to watch.
I for one am going to get my go-fast gas guzzler now since I don’t think I’ll be able to afford the gas for one in 10 years.
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Sam Tucker 3:12PM (6/26/2006)
I hate this whole global-economy shit. I would like a totally American made auto like Ford and Chevy were 40+ years ago. No foreign parts, no metric size wrenches to work on it, not assembled in some other country, no foreign company as part owner in the US company that builds it. BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA like that would ever happen! At least I got live through a period in time that was actually like that.
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zhonghuarising 5:40PM (6/26/2006)
I can't imagine any Chinese car manufacturer coming to the U.S. and doing well in sales right off the bat. The "made in China" label still implies "cheap goods" to most people -- whether this is justified or not is a matter for another thread.
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Ben 5:45PM (6/26/2006)
"I hate this whole global-economy shit."
You can't have it both ways. You gain some, you lose some.
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selihcra 9:07PM (6/26/2006)
Seems Chinese been cheated here.
How can a tiny, unknown Chinese auto-shop export automobiles to US in 2007? They even didn't sell well in Chinese market. I don't buy this, do you?
The truth is there is an American company, called CHAMCO, fooled the local Chinese automaker to believe the "selling to US" dream.
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Dave Newman 9:26PM (6/26/2006)
This is a little off-topic, but did anyone else notice that the lower front fascia on that SUV is a straight copy from the first generation Lincoln Navigator?
I think it will be nice for the Chinese manufacturers to start selling autos here. That way the rest of the world's auto companies can sue their state-side distributors for blatantly ripping off every idea and body line of every car I've seen out of them thus far. It's the only way anyone will be able to get some sort of financial settlement for thieving design.
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Ian 1:49AM (6/27/2006)
#19 sez:"I think it will be nice for the Chinese manufacturers to start selling autos here. That way the rest of the world's auto companies can sue their state-side distributors for blatantly ripping off every idea and body line of every car I've seen out of them thus far."
That hasn't stopped the Koreans.
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