OT: The Chinese are coming! (link)

[Cosmos]

"I want the whole world to hear the cacophony generated by made-in-China cars."

Li Zhengyu
VP, Baidu

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...ext-era-of-driving/ar-AAwfCo3?ocid=spartanntp

You know, I might be showing my age but I recall the head honcho of Volvo being interviewed by The Today Show back in the 1980s over the introduction of luxury lines by Toyota (Lexus) and Honda (Acura), scoffing at the notion they'll ever be able to compete. Look at who owns Volvo now.

 

[Nitwit]

Jaguar and Range Rover are owned by Tata Motors in India. They manage to compete just fine. It’s a world economy now. Whoever has the capital can invest and come up with competitive products.

 

[PS4814]

My last Honda was more American made than my last Ford. Parts come from all over the world at this point so any alignment to a particular company b/c it's made in "X" country is fool hearty.

 

[Woodpecker]

Jaguar and Range Rover are owned by Tata Motors

Some people like bodacious Tatas. However, ericstrattonrushchairman might be prone to wreck them.

 

[Colorado Man]

Some people like bodacious Tatas. However, ericstrattonrushchairman might be prone to wreck them.

I'm impressed you could spell bodacious. I would have had to look it up in the dictionary.

 

[massimoManca II]

"I want the whole world to hear the cacophony generated by made-in-China cars."

Li Zhengyu
VP, Baidu

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...ext-era-of-driving/ar-AAwfCo3?ocid=spartanntp

You know, I might be showing my age but I recall the head honcho of Volvo being interviewed by The Today Show back in the 1980s over the introduction of luxury lines by Toyota (Lexus) and Honda (Acura), scoffing at the notion they'll ever be able to compete. Look at who owns Volvo now.

Volvo actually had a nice niche in the price-point just below where the Lexus LS400 set up camp...

Volvo’s problems really flourished after they were purchased by Ford and folded into their ill-conceived Premium Auto Group...

those geniuses not only bastardized Volvo brand-equity (and Jaguar, for that matter - but that’s another story) , pillaged Volvo technology and brought us a Volvo-based Ford Five-Hundred/Ford Freestyle/Taurus/TaurusX... these clowns then slipped a 5cyl Volvo mill into a Focus and voila! The (good-but-overpriced) V40 and V50 collected moss on retailer lots... those same Ford geniuses abandoned the signature BRICK and thought the future of the Volvo brand would be up-market / priced up there with BMW, Audi and hence the Japanese lux upstarts... nope.

That vacuum was immediately filled by Subaru... who now, it seems, is bent on repeating the same dunderheaded move that was too tempting for Volvo ... Subie needs to mind (and mine) their current segment instead of jumping into the deep end / swimming with the “big boys”.... my less-than-satisfying 2016 Legacy is indicative of that ...

 

[bwifan]

Volvo actually had a nice niche in the price-point just below where the Lexus LS400 set up camp...

Volvo’s problems really flourished after they were purchased by Ford and folded into their ill-conceived Premium Auto Group...

those geniuses not only bastardized Volvo brand-equity (and Jaguar, for that matter - but that’s another story) , pillaged Volvo technology and brought us a Volvo-based Ford Five-Hundred/Ford Freestyle/Taurus/TaurusX... these clowns then slipped a 5cyl Volvo mill into a Focus and voila! The (good-but-overpriced) V40 and V50 collected moss on retailer lots... those same Ford geniuses abandoned the signature BRICK and thought the future of the Volvo brand would be up-market / priced up there with BMW, Audi and hence the Japanese lux upstarts... nope.

That vacuum was immediately filled by Subaru... who now, it seems, is bent on repeating the same dunderheaded move that was too tempting for Volvo ... Subie needs to mind (and mine) their current segment instead of jumping into the deep end / swimming with the “big boys”.... my less-than-satisfying 2016 Legacy is indicative of that ...

Not sure if still true but friends had Volvos and dumped them after the warranty ran out the costs of getting the most basic repair was obscene. Heard many others state the same if they are going to pay that much for repaits they will get an Audi

 

[billrag]

Not sure if still true but friends had Volvos and dumped them after the warranty ran out the costs of getting the most basic repair was obscene. Heard many others state the same if they are going to pay that much for repaits they will get an Audi

I've heard the same thing about BMW's from their owners. Personally, I went looking for what may have been my first "luxury car" this year because the kids are mostly grown and I felt like we could afford it and that we deserved it after years of making due and making sacrifices. I price shopped a bit and finally decided that even if I could manage, that I simply didn't want to drop 50 or 60K on a car, so we looked at the Toyota Avalon and ended up purchasing one. It's supposedly the same car as the Lexus ES350 with different branding and as others have pointed out, it's more American made than many "American made cars".

No idea what any of this has to do with football, but I like the discussion.

 

[LionDeNittany]

"I want the whole world to hear the cacophony generated by made-in-China cars."

Li Zhengyu
VP, Baidu

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...ext-era-of-driving/ar-AAwfCo3?ocid=spartanntp

You know, I might be showing my age but I recall the head honcho of Volvo being interviewed by The Today Show back in the 1980s over the introduction of luxury lines by Toyota (Lexus) and Honda (Acura), scoffing at the notion they'll ever be able to compete. Look at who owns Volvo now.

Well sure, but he was talking his book.

Kind of like my brother's regional manager at whole foods scoffing at the notion that Costco moving into Charlottesville would impact business.

They all knew it would. They just had to deny to maintain their pay.

LdN

 

[LionDeNittany]

Volvo actually had a nice niche in the price-point just below where the Lexus LS400 set up camp...

Volvo’s problems really flourished after they were purchased by Ford and folded into their ill-conceived Premium Auto Group...

those geniuses not only bastardized Volvo brand-equity (and Jaguar, for that matter - but that’s another story) , pillaged Volvo technology and brought us a Volvo-based Ford Five-Hundred/Ford Freestyle/Taurus/TaurusX... these clowns then slipped a 5cyl Volvo mill into a Focus and voila! The (good-but-overpriced) V40 and V50 collected moss on retailer lots... those same Ford geniuses abandoned the signature BRICK and thought the future of the Volvo brand would be up-market / priced up there with BMW, Audi and hence the Japanese lux upstarts... nope.

That vacuum was immediately filled by Subaru... who now, it seems, is bent on repeating the same dunderheaded move that was too tempting for Volvo ... Subie needs to mind (and mine) their current segment instead of jumping into the deep end / swimming with the “big boys”.... my less-than-satisfying 2016 Legacy is indicative of that ...

This is why all companies are doomed to fail. Like governments.

Who wants to run a company that makes a good product and is profitable? When you can double that profit and earn twice the pay?

Wait... to double the profit you have to take on a lot of debt... and that could bankrupt the company. And you need to buy a failing other company and merge.

It's all good. We can do it!

LdN

 

[massimoManca II]

Not sure if still true but friends had Volvos and dumped them after the warranty ran out the costs of getting the most basic repair was obscene. Heard many others state the same if they are going to pay that much for repaits they will get an Audi

I’d compare the depreciation-rates of a Volvo coming off a 36mo. lease to that of a lightly-used maxi-pad*

That being said... i will admit that I still love Volvos

 

[Ski]

Some people like bodacious Tatas. However, ericstrattonrushchairman might be prone to wreck them.

I prefer Tatas with no air bags. Live on the edge.

 

[Cosmos]

I prefer Tatas with no air bags. Live on the edge.

Or driving a Yugo in the left lane of an LA expressway.

 

[Cosmos]

My last Honda was more American made than my last Ford. Parts come from all over the world at this point so any alignment to a particular company b/c it's made in "X" country is fool hearty.

Hmm. I had an imported Accord followed by two assembled in Marysville. By far the best put together was the first one. Some people pay attention to detail. Albeit the last one (2006 EX) was a pretty good car.

My takeaway from the article is don't bet on Tesla taking market share from the Big 3 because the Chinese are coming.

 

[NittPicker]

Will Chinese made cars have lead contamination?

 

[massimoManca II]

Hmm. I had an imported Accord followed by two assembled in Marysville. By far the best put together was the first one. Some people pay attention to detail. Albeit the last one (2006 EX) was a pretty good car.

My takeaway from the article is don't bet on Tesla taking market share from the Big 3 because the Chinese are coming.

IMHO It depends less on where it was assembled and more on what year/generation Accord to which you’re referring... if your first Accord was was the superb GenIII and your subsequent Accords were, say, GenVI or later, I’ll argue that you’re comparing apples to oranges...

As successful as they are - I contend that Honda had lost its way (exhibit A: Crosstour) and allowed even industry laggard GM to catch up... until this tenth gen Accord (which I like), many generations subsequent to the CAN-do-no-wrong GenIII were victims of selective de-contenting and less than excellent Honda design/ engineering that we’d otherwise expect...

I’ve owned a couple Honda’s since 2009 (one is in my driveway right now) and they’re simply adequate/good ... interiors are simply cheap and lo-n-behold make GM look good these days

 

[Roar More]

My last Honda was more American made than my last Ford. Parts come from all over the world at this point so any alignment to a particular company b/c it's made in "X" country is fool hearty.

Saw US Govt. plates on a Honda hybrid yesterday. Never thought I would see "foreign" cars purchased by the U. S. government.

 

[Cletus11]

IMHO It depends less on where it was assembled and more on what year/generation Accord to which you’re referring... if your first Accord was was the superb GenIII and your subsequent Accords were, say, GenVI or later, I’ll argue that you’re comparing apples to oranges...

As successful as they are - I contend that Honda had lost its way (exhibit A: Crosstour) and allowed even industry laggard GM to catch up... until this tenth gen Accord (which I like), many generations subsequent to the CAN-do-no-wrong GenIII were victims of selective de-contenting and less than excellent Honda design/ engineering that we’d otherwise expect...

I’ve owned a couple Honda’s since 2009 (one is in my driveway right now) and they’re simply adequate/good ... interiors are simply cheap and lo-n-behold make GM look good these days

I agree that Honda cars are 'not what they used to be', but it just essentially means they are the equal to most of the better made cars as opposed to be better like they used to be. And some of that is due to making them cheaper, but they also dropped their prices some as well. I have been a Toyota vs. Honda person for a while now. When I goto buy cars, the Toyota is typically the "nicer car/minivan/SUV", looks better, drives better, more comfortable seating and interior. Typically the higher end package of accessories that I get with the car are pretty equal between the brands. But huge difference in the price. Typically 10%+ range the Honda is cheaper which amounts to $3,000 to $4,000 on a new car. And for that kind of money, tough to pass up the Honda so we have bought Honda for the last 3 cars. Sticker price is lower on the Honda than the equivalent Toyota and the Honda dealer is always willing to deal and discount where the Toyota dealers (we goto multiple of them so not like it is just one dealer) always basically say the price is the price.

 

[massimoManca II]

I agree that Honda cars are 'not what they used to be', but it just essentially means they are the equal to most of the better made cars as opposed to be better like they used to be. And some of that is due to making them cheaper, but they also dropped their prices some as well. I have been a Toyota vs. Honda person for a while now. When I goto buy cars, the Toyota is typically the "nicer car/minivan/SUV", looks better, drives better, more comfortable seating and interior. Typically the higher end package of accessories that I get with the car are pretty equal between the brands. But huge difference in the price. Typically 10%+ range the Honda is cheaper which amounts to $3,000 to $4,000 on a new car. And for that kind of money, tough to pass up the Honda so we have bought Honda for the last 3 cars. Sticker price is lower on the Honda than the equivalent Toyota and the Honda dealer is always willing to deal and discount where the Toyota dealers (we goto multiple of them so not like it is just one dealer) always basically say the price is the price.

Toyota dealers are notorious pricks... I’ve walked-out of many a Toyota retailer shaking my head

For many (recent) years Honda was chasing Camry’s title of best-selling car in America and their pricing architecture reflected that... quite a change from the crazy eighties when Honda lots were empty of unsold inventory and dealers were punishing shoppers with surcharges... and HoA was operating a huge payola scheme where regional managers were taking briefcases of $$$$ for access to inventory