China will most likely announce strong sales numbers for February. Not as strong as in January, when sales of all motor vehicles shot up by 126 percent, but still strong. How do I know this without the official numbers? By looking at GM. GM has always been a good leading indicator for China’s sales.
GM said today that its February vehicle sales in China rose 51 percent from a year earlier on strong demand for Chevrolet and Cadillac models as well as its popular minivans, Gasgoo says. Expect the rest of the industry to come in with similarly good numbers.
Comparing January and February numbers is a bit complicated in China this year. Last year, the Spring Festival holidays started in January, this year, they started in February. China was closed for most of the month.
2009 auto sales in China were up 45 percent. Forecasters predicted that growth this year would be much slower. Kevin Wale, bossman of GM China, doesn’t buy into that: “The continued strong market demand portends another record year for both the industry and GM in China in 2010.”
Here’s another surprising number: Chinese manufacturers apparently couldn’t make enough cars to fill the ravenous appetite. China’s car imports jumped 140 percent in January, says Gasgoo. On average, China exports half as many cars as it imports.
Well the chinese have no discerning abilities when it comes to cars as evidenced by their long history of relying on foot or communal transportation. Hence, they like GM.
This shows obvious lack of information, stereotypes and hints of racism. Refer to my post below.
Can I post a link if the express intent is debunking false accusations and insults?
Here it is:
http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese_transportation.htm
Who would want working conditions like in Chinese factories?
If American workers had not fought to form Unions and improve working conditions, change labor laws, outlaw child labor, we would all work in hazardous conditions for a lot more than 40 hours per week.
Well, we don’t ALL work in factories, so that’s probably not so true. State workers have no such onerous duties but they unionize too for other more avaristic reasons.
Considering the quality of what we receive here from there (lead painted toys etc) I guess the “discerning” buyer’s expectations there may be a little lower than mine are.
Unions have done much more good than bad. Only in the past 30 years or so have they become somewhat obsolete in the US. Our Labor Laws finally caught up, taking over for what Unions were developed to do. Unions will eventually come to China at some point (and Mexico).
GM are big heavy cars that compensate beautifully for chinese men’s lack of endowment in other areas.
Don’t you think this is a bit below the belt? Other commenters have been accused of racism for – well – much less. Please refer to https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/faqs/#commentpolicy
Lets not dwell in legalities, policies and interpretations. Sometimes we need to standup and say what we all know is true.
Well, considering that most cars GM (and all automakers, in fact) sell in China are smaller cars than the ones they sell here on average, if your logic is true, then it’s Americans who are trying to compensate for lack of endowment.
Now, onto the real reason why GM sells more cars in China… Chinese people do believe in American quality (hah!) and there’s are sensitive issues (history, pride, usw) when it comes to buying Japanese cars. Also, Japanese cars sold in China have poorer quality than the ones sold here. So I’d say Chinese buy GM because it’s the “lesser of evils.” VW is also quite popular in China BTW.
Yeah, especially Texans have problems accepting that they are a little underdeveloped.
The “don’t mess with Texas” slogan, is just like asking to be messed with.
Unions will come to Mexico but not China. Well, not as long as China remains a one-party authoritarian state, anyway–authoritarian states hate independent labor unions. Because, like religion, they’re a nexus of power independent of the state, and authoritarians just can’t have that.
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Let me clear up some recurring misconceptions.
GM sells a lot of cars because they were the second large car company (after VW) to take the Chinese market seriously. (Theoretically, the 3rd, but AMC and later Chrysler thoroughly bungled their chance.)
Most of the GM success is smoke and mirrors, they count over one million little Wuling vans, a joint venture in which they have only a 34% share.
VW is the largest real car brand in China, by a wide margin.
Japanese brands sell a lot of cars in China, especially in the South. WWII has long been forgotten. Shanghai GM sold 727,620 cars in 2009, Toyota sold 709,000.
The share of homegrown brands is rising rapidly. The #1 selling sedan is a BYD.
Also…
There are unions, and they can be effective, just not in the stranglehold method that Americans are used to reading about. There are also “private” unions inside individual companies that are quite effective.
There are many factories in China that are as nice as, and even nicer than, factories in the US. Especially in automotive JV’s. They aren’t all dirt floors and toluene vats.