And, a recent tour of one of the Asian powerhouse’s vehicle plants has proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least to Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
“We have no chance against this,” Mibe said upon a visit to a Shanghai parts factory, commenting on its seamless automation across all levels of production. Logistics, procurement and all aspects of the process were so automated, in fact, that he did not spot a single human worker on the supplier’s floor.
Ford executives saying even three years ago that China was way ahead of the game
Toyota’s CEO has likewise said regarding not just his company, but the industry in general, “unless things change, we will not survive”
The trouble is the opposition is subsidised so they can pretty much run negative margins and still turn a profit.
Paying proper wages is the opposite of what would help here.
All auto makers are heavily subsidized, US automakers most of all.
I don’t think Ford’s getting paid a 5 digit sum to sell me a Mondeo lol, not that they even make those anymore.
If we add up all their subsidies, bailouts and hand-waved fines, we probably end up pretty close to that amount
The majority of it is loans though. Any Chinese EV manufacturers literally get paid per car they sell.
As for the EV subsidies in most countries, those get paid out to buyers usually, not sellers. Germany’s not paying Mercedes for every car they sell in China or the US, etc.