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Ford's China partner planning to sell in U.S. in 2020
Ford Motor Co.'s newest Chinese partner, Zotye Automobile, is preparing to launch at least two SUVs in the Blue Oval's backyard.
The relatively small Chinese automaker Zotye Automobile International Co. is partnering with California-based HAAH Automotive Holdings to look beyond its home market and form a new sales distribution company in the United States known as Zotye USA (pronounced ZOH-tay) — a tie-up that would sell direct competitors to some of Ford's most lucrative SUVs.
"We're facing a new reality where the Chinese domestic market is slowing for the first time in recent memory," said Michael Dunne, CEO of Hong Kong-based ZoZo Go, a firm that advises automakers on the Chinese market. "Now that things have gone soft, automakers are finding themselves in a situation where they have to export and find new markets. Zotye is possibly the first, but they won't be the last."
Also at MarketWatch and CNET.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @02:36PM (7 children)
There is a large gap between US and Chinese regulations for crash, emissions and probably many other details. They might send some SUVs here, but my guess is the first few batches will be sent back for non-compliance. It will take more than a couple of years to satisfy the USA rules.
There will also be aggressive USA car dealers that want to get in on the next big round of lower-priced vehicles from low wage countries, but the Feds will hold fast to the regulations.
The Chinese might do better trying to peddle their vehicles in S. America or Africa where rules are easier?
It would be nice to revisit this news item in a couple of years, to see if my prediction is correct.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday November 15 2018, @03:20PM (4 children)
Believe it or not, US regulations aren't secret knowledge. This business will be quite aware that it can't just drop a bunch of vehicles off a ship and expect them to be street legal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @04:22PM (1 child)
> This business will be quite aware that it can't just drop a bunch of vehicles off a ship and expect them to be street legal.
Agreed. But being aware of the regs and actually meeting them are two different things. This article has some history of recent attempts by Chinese car companies to sell in USA, so far all have failed, with some retreating and pledging to return at a later date.
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-china-auto-export-20180205-story.html [latimes.com]
Matches my memory of the last 10+ years of Chinese attempts in the USA car market. It ends with a funny coincidence,
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday November 16 2018, @05:35AM
Sure, but it's foolish to hype the supposed ability of US regulations to block Chinese car makers. Especially, when they're starting to work with US automakers who already have the regulations figured out.
(Score: 2) by Blymie on Thursday November 15 2018, @08:25PM (1 child)
A company you might have heard of -- called Hyundai, wanted to enter the North American market years ago. Mid-80s, and I recall my friend's Dad pondering it.
The 2-for-1 sale caught his eye. Literally, they advertised "2-for-1", and sold two Hyundai Ponies for $6k+. Crazy.
The cars weren't bad, in that you could easily fix them. But the first car rusted to uselessness in a few, yes 3+ years. Completely unready for the Canadian market, the snow, and all the salt spread on the roads for the ice.
My friend's Dad wasn't too upset, he had a brand new one in the garage. But you can bet Chinese imports will not fit without changes.
And on top of all of this, Chinese stuff? It *is* crap. It is. And quality control is NOT easy, Hyundai only managed to get their act into gear by stealing Toyota's staff + quality control processes + documents (trade secrets + copyrighted material).
But Hyundai got it right. So potentially whatever company this Chinese company is, could too...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @03:08AM
Chinese build to a price point. You want super cheap, you get crap (Walmart, Harbor Freight, etc. want super cheap). Remember that all Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. are made in China / Taiwan too.
Datsun (Nissan) broke out into the international market licensing their engine designs from Mercedes. Hyundai originally came with engine designs licensed from Mazda. If this company is a Ford partner, these cars might just be re-badged Ford designs (so no worse than any other Ford).
(Score: 3, Touché) by suburbanitemediocrity on Thursday November 15 2018, @05:16PM (1 child)
Remember when the same was true with Japanese automakers?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @06:55PM
Why, yes, I do. Per Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan [wikipedia.org] Nissan/Datsun produced it's first car(s) in 1914. Started export to USA in the late 1950s and were not recognized as making reasonable quality cars (subjectively) until about 1970 with the 510 sedan (we had one in the family) and the 240Z sports car.
With few US regulations in the 1960s, the Japanese could "learn on the job".
China didn't start until ~20 years later https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_China [wikipedia.org] and made mostly trucks, "As late as 1985, the country produced a total of only 5,200 cars." No question the Chinese are coming on like gangbusters in terms of production quantity, but quality and an understanding of the requirements of the USA market takes a little longer. If you want to buy a high quality car in China these days, I hear that you buy an import, or foreign brand made in China (like Buick).
Are you ready to buy a battery electric car from China? Will you worry about a battery fire burning down your garage/house?? The smart importer/dealer will either carry insurance for this unfortunate situation or self-insure and quietly pay off this kind of disaster.