Chinese cars

SkyTerran

SkyTerran

SkyTerran

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Joined
28 Jan 2013
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252
Looks like the sales of Chinese cars in UK are rising. MG offers probably the best deals on EVs. Volvo (don't know if one can count it as Chinese, but it's 100% owned by a Chinese company) has a huge wait list from what I hear.

Recently watched a few reviews from China for cars such as BYD SONG (which seems to have replaced VW and Toyota as the most popular taxi car in China). And it looks like the 80 or so car companies in China are making huge progress and are soon to leave the Germans far behind.

Especially with EVs China has a huge advantage over Germany - it makes and exports batteries, while German car makers have to import batteries from S. Korea and China. Also the Chinese have a huge range of models, from very cheap city cars with 50 or a 100 miles range to huge SUVs full of tech, like lidars. And unlike the German brands, the entry level cheap cars get a ton of tech for free.




 
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Tom_ed1987 said:
If you buy one you are essentially directly supporting the CCP.
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OK, but if you buy an iPhone assembled in China do you support the CCP?

A huge part of the products on the shelves of our shops are made in China. Most European EVs have batteries made in China - and the battery is the most expensive part of an EV.
 
XeNoN89 said:
Belarus is full of Chinese EVs. When I was there I was constantly seeing cars and car brands that I've never seen before. Even saw a load with Chinese number plates, looks like they directly import them.
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I think a few of the big Chinese companies have car assembly plants in Belarus, probably mainly working for the Russian market (after the European and the American car makers left it is now dominated by the Chinese).
 
Skilid said:
I don't think I've seen a single attractive Chinese designed car. They're all ugly, including the MG4. Some of the reviews show cheap materials, bad translations on infotainment systems and poorly programmed charging/battery monitoring systems leading to odd behaviour. I don't think their QC is as good as other manufacturers. We have no idea the quality of the materials being used in these cars and as regulation in China is pretty poor I wouldn't be surprised if they've cut corners in safety etc.

Cheap != Good. I'd rather pay more and have something that is better built and that I have more confidence in.
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All the Chinese companies pay western designers to do the designs of their cars. People who previously worked for the like of BMW, Bugatti, Volvo, Mercedes, etc. So don't think Chinese cars look any different from the European ones.
 
I think you're underestimating how much the Chinese are willing to invest to gain market share in profitable markets. Anything that German car manufacturers can afford in terms of machinery and materials, Chinese companies financed by the state banks can match.

If you're comparing the car market to TV market - have a look how many TVs are made in Germany (probably 0) and how many in China (biggest TV manufacturer in the world probably).
 
tyke_ said:
Not sure i'd buy a Chinese designed and built car. They know how to build things but imo their software often has bugs or glitches, a Chinese EV will have a lot of software running.
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Many Chinese car companies actually use car software produced by the like of Huawei (Harmony OS based) or have partnered with big tech like Microsoft to make their own and they try to emulate what Tesla has on their cars.



 

China's government invested 60B USD in EV battery tech. I'd guess the UK government also has billions of pounds in similar innovation budgets, curious what are they being invested in.
 
A Norwegian guy doing interesting testing/reviews of EVs, by driving a 1000km in Norway:


docs.google.com

TB test results

License: CC0 (Public Domain)
docs.google.com docs.google.com

Between the new 40K quid Tesla 3 and the Chinese EVs like MG and https://gwmora.co.uk/ there's very little space left for the other EV cars. Sure some people will buy a BMW, VW, Jaguar, Fiat, Kia or Mercedes, but most will check the reviews online and on YT before buying and realize that Tesla and the Chinese cars offer far better value.

Too bad Tesla doesn't know what the word privacy means. Anything you do in or around a Tesla will be recorded and sent to Tesla servers (and made available to Tesla employees to enjoy). Park a Tesla in front of your house and same applies to your home.
 
Maybe you're right, but I have a different opinion.

Making an EV is far simpler than making an ICEV, which gives better chances for new companies to compete with the established ones. The electric motor is far simpler and has far fewer parts than a petrol or a diesel motor. One can license complete car software from the likes of Huawei, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm. Even the established brands buy most of the car parts - batteries, gear boxes, seats, wheels, etc. from third parties. Starting a new car company and turning profit in China takes a lot less money - millions, not billions.

A few years ago people in the West didn't know who Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo were, but when they saw them selling good quality smart phones cheaper than the likes of Simens, Nokia, Sony, etc. a lot of the customers quickly switched. When a buyer sees that a BMW EV with a 400 miles range costs 50K, while a decent MG with the same range is 30K brand status and loyalty won't stop a lot of peaple from buying the cheaper car.
 
Russian EV prototype :cry:

2-7.jpg
 
Nasher said:
Thing is the Japanese never really used to plan/build in obsolescence. They used the best materials and quality control was far beyond others. But that isn't what modern business likes :/

I can't ever see Chinese cars making it to the top tbh. Their way is to just pump out cheap products in huge numbers.
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Have you tried a modern Chinese phone, like Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Redmi, OnePlus, Poco? They have amazing build quality.

China is the world factory and most products on the shelves of Western shops are made in China, including expensive ones. E.g. Apple phones are assembled by Chinese factories. Most laptops on the UK market are assembled in China. Most home and commercial appliances sold in UK are made in China.

The idea that China can only make cheap, low quality products may have been correct in the 90s, but I think you need to open your eyes and see that China's industry has changed :)
 
Yes, as any modern industry assembly is separate from parts production. E.g. do you think that a Nissan plant in UK makes the engine parts, seats, wheels, tyres, sensors, processors, battery, etc. that go in a Nissan car?
 
I think you're right. The main reason this will happen is China government invested 60 billion dollars into EV battery tech, the funds were managed by smart engineers with industry experience and now Chinese companies have the best and cheapest EV batteries. On the other hand US, EU, UK had far more money in their innovation funds, but they were and are being mis-managed.
 
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