Chinese cars

Soldato
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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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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.

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).
 
Man of Honour
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I think you can get a Corsa-E for under £22k again which is good because the list price is stupid (£32,000).

@Grim5 whats the TLDW and is the YouTuber actually credible?
That youtuber is a South African who moved to China, married a Chinese lady and later moved away from china because he didn't like the way the country was run. A lot of his videos are anti China, or at least anti Chinese Communist Party. I'm not sure whether that is because he has an agenda. But he does know china and the Chinese people.
 
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Soldato
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Within the first 90 seconds and it certainly felt agenda driven, definitely sensationalist.

They were dressed as a news reporter and were making unsubstantiated claims with no appearance of bringing forward any evidence. The b-roll just added fuel to the fire (pun intended).
 
Soldato
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Thge new Mini EV just announced is a collaboration with Chinese company - Great Wall Motors (same company who do the Ora Funky Cat).

(The new Countryman EV will be based on the same BMW X1 platform..)

So if BMW are happy GWM's tech/build quality is sufficient to rival their own, then I'd say we've most definitely turned a corner..

And when Chinese made Tesla's surpassed their fremont factory in terms of build quality, it's clear China is fast becoming a real contender.


It's the politics that are shady.. But then being 'pulled' by the west through manufacturing is not a bad thing.. if we cut all trade with China, they'll turn more and more to other countries like Russia, so there is that..
 
Soldato
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As far as i know all of these new EV busses going around places like London may be assembled in the UK but the heart of them is a pre made Chinese chassis and i expect most other parts are also Chinese.
 
Soldato
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If there's one thing you don't want to be a beta tester for it's a car. I'll let others check it out for me, if you don't lose your shirt or die in a horrible fire I may consider one. Good luck, I may join you in about 10 years ;)
 
Soldato
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Are these Chinese cars independently tested in Europe for compliance to EU/TüV/CE safety standards?

 
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Soldato
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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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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.


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.
 
Soldato
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panel/body forming machines/techniques that might be available for wealthy western clients can't necessarily be specced for use on chinese domestic products, limiting design -
do the chinese do the hofmeister kink.

crash protection standards techniques obviously well known, but lightest, most expensive materials not necessarily used (not taxing based on ev efficiency yet)
on the ev's the electronics and their reliability are harder to evaluate, but represent big part of the bom
... could even be analogous to the TV market where Panasonic/philips still produce the high end/premium products with better tolerance/reliability components but the entry products have poorer components -
will the ex30 & polestar have same quality of systems, or the mg4 versus audi saic products, audi&bmw want to present entry level products to initiate the clients in the brand.
 
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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).
 
Caporegime
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See loads of Chinese cars in South Africa, and I've seen one that was in a collision - I wouldn't want to be in one in a crash, it was folded up like a piece of paper.

Also, Chinese motorcycles are quite prolific here, and the quality is all over the place. None are good quality, some aren't too bad and some are absolutely awful and won't survive a single winter.

I see people regularly drawing parallels with the Japanese stuff in the past and how they've now taken over but I reckon the Chinese stuff (proper chinese, not made in china) still has a long, long way to go.
 
Soldato
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It’s easy to critique the software on Chinese cars, but and there is always a but, infotainment software in cars is almost universally terrible. Ask any early ID.3 owner. Even the Korean stuff isn’t much better. The few exceptions are Tesla and BMW but even BMW have 8000 menu options which are a pain to get through quickly.

Likewise the cooling performance on a lot of EVs is poor, not just Chinese cars. Loads of western cars rapidgate (battery overheats and thermal throttles) including the Kia EV6, particularly if you want to have the cabin cooling running.

Crash test results vary significantly by car. Here are two Euro ncap results for EVs available today:
2021 Renault Zoe - 0 stars
2022 MG4 - 5 stars

Before you ask, yes I deliberately picked the Zoe because it’s got a terrible crash score after Renault removed safety features to save cost, the older cars performed better in crash tests.
 
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Soldato
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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.
Clearly they hired the wrong people or they are overiding their design decisions. You can spot a Chinese car a mile off as they always get the proportions wrong.
 
Soldato
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Clearly they hired the wrong people or they are overiding their design decisions. You can spot a Chinese car a mile off as they always get the proportions wrong.

Often the wheels are much smaller to keep the price down (wheels and tyres) and increase range.
 
Soldato
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Before you ask, yes I deliberately picked the Zoe because it’s got a terrible crash score after Renault removed safety features to save cost, the older cars performed better in crash tests.
Is that true? I thought it was because ncap did an update and the car physically can't meet that requirement.
 
Soldato
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Is that true? I thought it was because ncap did an update and the car physically can't meet that requirement.
The test got harder following the introduction of better technology but also from what I understand they took out some airbags in the face lift. In my mind, given it was a face lift and the old car had them, that can only be for one thing which is reducing cost. It certainly wasn't for improving crash protection!

Edit: “Unfortunately, a conscious decision has been made to remove the head protection from this vital passive safety feature, by the brand that pioneered the use of it. As a result, the safety of occupants within the vehicle has been severely impacted.”

That combined with no lane departure warning and no AEB results in a 0 star score.


Edit2: the next quote is brutal...

“Drivers should not have to trade off safety for zero emissions. Motorists can still save the planet and enjoy a car that could play a vital role in saving their family in the event of a crash. There are many other options of a similar price and size that have achieved solid ratings and feature a host of active safety systems as standard too. Even looking within the Renault stable, the Clio is an affordable five-star hybrid vehicle that retails at £10,000 less than the Zoe and still allows drivers to be environmentally conscious without sacrificing safety.”
 
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