CNBC
Detroit automakers like General Motors made a fortune selling cars to Chinese consumers after the Asian country opened its auto market to foreign firms in the 1980s. But the good times are over as Chinese firms have caught up with the foreign firms who once taught them the automotive trade. Top names like BYD, Geely and Great Wall are now making globally competitive products and many companies with tech backgrounds are entering the industry, too, including Li Auto, XPeng, Nio, Xiaomi, Huawei, Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba. Jeep’s joint venture already went bankrupt, and one industry analyst said he expects Ford and GM to withdraw from the country in the next five years along with other such as Hyundai, Kia and Nissan.
Chapters:
00:00 – 2:09: Why American automakers are failing in China
2:18 Chapter 1 – A massive market
4:13 Chapter 2 – Rise and fall
6:15 Chapter 3 – How it happened
11:22 Chapter 4 – High Productivity
14:27 Chapter 5 – What’s next
Producer: Robert Ferris
Editor: Darren Geeter
Animation: Jason Reginato, Christina Locopo
Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi
Editorial Support: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional footage: Getty Images, BYD, Polestar, Hyundai Motors
Additional sources: FactSet, Tesla, General Motors, Kiel Institute
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Why American Automakers Are Failing In China
They’ve been way too busy pushing these stupidly big and expensive trucks that no other (sane) country in the world wants. China comes along and builds cheap, small cars that get people to work and back and they sell a ton. What a surprise – someone in Shanghai doesn’t need an “F-5000 XT Xtreme edition” the size of a small school bus.
This is what happens when you spend billions of dollars on industrial development rather than on funding overseas wars.
China doesn’t waste money on military spending. In 2023, China spent $296 billion, or 1.7 percent of its GDP, on the military. USA, on the other hand, spent a whopping $916 billion, or 3.4 percent of its GDP!
USA spent $2.3 trillion prosecuting the War in Afghanistan. How much infrastructure could this amount of money build? How much industrial development?
If an american lived in china for one day, theyd be the most pro chinese people on earth.
Yes green tech comapanies are evil, but the product’s reign IS INEVITABLE. We deseperatyl need to catch up and invest in other greentech (while regualting the companies) if we want to remain competitive.
Watch the video and focus on the traffic scenes, how many huge SUVs and even bigger trucks do you see? Almost none.
Now look at the models US automakers have on offer, how many huge SUVs and even bigger trucks do you see? Almost all of them.
That’s why US automakers fail in China – and pretty much everywhere else where roads aren’t 50 feet wide, fuel isn’t dirt cheap and where there aren’t more parking spots than there are people.
john and jane can’t compete with sandeep and harjeet in north america.
what makes john and jane think they can compete with sandeep and harjeet outside of north america?
American brands failed miserably in India. Korean, Japanese and Indian brands are ruling the roost.
Makes sense. Is cars are inferior so far.
Cause US car models in general sucks
Blame the communist goons .. that control the Xina and greedy morons in the west who gave their money and transferred all their tech to build those factories and the cars.
American vehicles failing in China. Because they’re made in China. And their unemployment rate due to the youth revolting work. Possibly those 😂
The irony is Chinese cars are junk too
USA brought that one upon themselves. Outsourcing everithing and now that they teached the world how to build cars . .. .thet cannot compete.
American automakers are failing literally everywhere including America. Not surprising when you sell overpriced unreliable vehicles.
Most of these companies will learn the hard way. China even sent students to all of the top universities in America and Europe (Including the UK) to become engineers. Now, they don’t need to buy phones, automobiles, aircraft, appliances, clothes, shoes etc from the US or Europe. There’s nothing we can sell to China because we gave them the blueprints. Now most products sold in America are made in China.
Rise of China is good for the Mericans. It will wake them up.
Russo trying desperately to save his own welfare. But the inevitable option is China stealing intellectual property then spitting out US companies. Seems to me that we (US automakers) made bank in the early days and now the Chinese are bitchslapping them). That’s the price for getting in bed with the enemy.
Why? Because they can’t afford America ish
America should just keep doing what it does. Exporting weapons.
Chinese prefer to buy $200 luxury American made furniture. WIth 21% youth unemployment among the 96 million Chinese aged 16-24 this makes sense. Also urban areas have buses, rail, light rail and high speed to rail to get around.