Chinese consider building cars in Australia to keep prices low

[Brazen]

Although unlikely, it would be great for the local industry. With shipping becoming more and more expensive its not surprising some are considering building cars here. We are also one of the lowest-cost western countries and have a supportive government for manufacture and have established infrastructure, we are also one of the largest markets in the Asian Pacific region so it makes sense.


http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/c...421-1dpp7.html

Chinese car maker Hawtai considers local assembly option to help keep prices low.

Emerging Chinese car brand Hawtai is considering local assembly in Australia as part of its plan to sell cars here.

A spokesman for Hawtai, commercial manager Ralf Jiang, told Drive at the Shanghai motor show this week that shipping cars to Australian in CKD (complete knockdown) packs and assembling them in Australia was a being considered as a way to make sure its cars were price competitive in Australia.

"Maybe we can find a local co-operator to build us a CKD (complete knockdown) plant there," Jiang said. "This may be possible ... we can discuss about this with our potential co-operator and see which is the best way to enter the market."

Whether it builds cars here or not - and the likelihood considering all the economic factors is not - it seems Hawtai is committed to selling cars in Australia, but probably no earlier than 2013.

This date is actually a blow-out from an optimistic estimate given by a Hawtai executive to Drive at the 2010 Beijing motor show. Then, there was hope of a mid-2011 launch in Australia, although then there was no mention of local assembly being part of the plan.

The impediment to local sale - as it is with many of the ambitious Chinese brands - is the lack of right-hand drive cars. But Jiang told Drive that issue was being addressed.

"Right-hand drive of all our cars are under development," he said. "We will probably have them in half-a-year to one year."

Jiang confirmed that Hawtai was in touch with two potential distributors and was investigating others in Australia. Negotiations had not progressed far as yet, but a research trip to Australia was planned for late 2011.

"We wait till right-hand drive is finished, keep in touch, and when that is finished we can develop the market together," Jiang said.

Models that Hawtai would bring to Australia as part of a launch range would include the B35 SUV and B11 mid-size sedan, both shown in production form at the Shanghai show. While they come fitted with petrol engines, they also offer the option of turbo-diesel engines (supplied by VM Motori) a rarity for Chinese cars.

"Australia is a very good market for passenger cars and also SUVs and because we are producing these cars I think it is good for the Australian market," Jiang said.

Until releasing its own models Hawtai was best known for its recycled Hyundai SUVs, including the original Santa Fe and the Terracan.

Apart from Hawtai, Haima was the other significant Chinese brand this week expressed open interest in entering the Australian market, joining Great Wall Motors, Chery and Geely.

Most brands surveyed by Drive expressed interest, but cited right-hand-drive and Australian Design Regulations as significant impediments.

Lifan, a brand which last year told Drive it would like to export to Australia and perhaps even manufacture here, had backed right away from that plan this year, citing RHD as an issue for a number of years.

[nstg8a]

Most brands surveyed by Drive expressed interest, but cited right-hand-drive and Australian Design Regulations as significant impediments

god bless adr's...

[2011G6E]

http://www.hawtai-auto.com/english/

That almost-Bentley-clone on the opening page of thier website looks the business.

I'm once again reminded of the way people used to openly laugh at Japanese cars right up to the mid to late seventies. "They'll never amount to anything and always be tinny little cheap crapbuckets"...

Sure they will...

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

http://www.hawtai-auto.com/english/

That almost-Bentley-clone on the opening page of thier website looks the business.

I'm once again reminded of the way people used to openly laugh at Japanese cars right up to the mid to late seventies. "They'll never amount to anything and always be tinny little cheap crapbuckets"...

Sure they will...

yup... 20 years time everything will be dominantly chinese. its only the dodgy quality control that lets some chinese goods down now. once they sort that out the chinese manufacturers are a behemoth that will be unstoppable.

[justbrett]

Hope their cars are faster than their webpage ...

[madmelon]

Originally Posted by justbrett

Hope their cars are faster than their webpage ...

Just tried it myself...like going back to dial up!

[SteveJH]

Does the use of CKD kits remove import duty etc?

Australian workers would cost more then Chinese workers, but cars arent very space efficient (too much air) whereas I suppose you could pack components much more efficiently then the assembled product.

Most brands surveyed by Drive expressed interest, but cited right-hand-drive and Australian Design Regulations as significant impediments

Thank you Australian Government!! Now they just need to make it so they have to pass crash tests at a certain rating as well!!

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by SteveJH

Does the use of CKD kits remove import duty etc?

Australian workers would cost more then Chinese workers, but cars arent very space efficient (too much air) whereas I suppose you could pack components much more efficiently then the assembled product.



Thank you Australian Government!! Now they just need to make it so they have to pass crash tests at a certain rating as well!!

Yeah... and start to match the ADR with current performance of AUssie cars and make them meet that standard.

[barra265t]

Someone talk hawtai or some other weird Chinese manufacturer into taking one of our previous model falcons say EF/EL, reverse engineer it and build improved clones. Then I'll gladly buy a chinese made car.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by barra265t

Someone talk hawtai or some other weird Chinese manufacturer into taking one of our previous model falcons say EF/EL, reverse engineer it and build improved clones. Then I'll gladly buy a chinese made car.

No you wouldn't.

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by barra265t

Someone talk hawtai or some other weird Chinese manufacturer into taking one of our previous model falcons say EF/EL, reverse engineer it and build improved clones. Then I'll gladly buy a chinese made car.

I wouldn't, I currently drive an EL, and getting into my sisters AU, my parents BFII or Mondeo, the difference is insane. I'd take the current gen car any day.

[Bobman]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

yup... 20 years time everything will be dominantly chinese. its only the dodgy quality control that lets some chinese goods down now. once they sort that out the chinese manufacturers are a behemoth that will be unstoppable.

No it won't.

Dodgy quality has been an issue with Chinese manufactured goods for 20 years already. Has anything improved? No.

As soon as Chinese folk stop deciding to be slaves and demand decent wages, you can kiss any Chinese manufacturing goodbye and all the companies that moved there will come back here crying for forgiveness.

That will be a good day.

[2011G6E]

I think people underestimate the lengths the Chinese go to when they decide to dominate at manufacturing something...

I've talked to motorcycle shop owners and a manager of a spare parts shop I know who have travelled to China to check out what is available. The motorcycle example was particularly amazing...a simply enormous factory, with many acres under cover, brand new production lines, and surrounding the factory were several high rise apartment blocks, all for the workers and thier families, with shops and other facilities. It was like a city built around a massive factory. The workers got accomodation for them and thier families, and were close to work. When one guy I know enquired about motorcycles, he was shown a range of examples, and said that within a day they could reconfigure the production line to suit whatever he wanted and start shipping container loads out within a couple of days.
They seem to be very "customer focussed" and see it as just part of business to do what the customer requires rather than say "here's our range of stuff, take your choice and don't complain, we're not going out of our way just to please you".

Economies of scale and low wages (relative to what we get paid anyhow, but quite normal in China) make this sort of thing possible, and it simply isn't something our country could compete with seriously.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by Bobman

No it won't.

Dodgy quality has been an issue with Chinese manufactured goods for 20 years already. Has anything improved? No..

Actualy it has and quite considerably, look at the Chinese made industrial equipment of 20 years ago then look at it 10 years ago, and 5years ago and you will see an amazing difference. and in a good way.

dont use the entry level or ebay rubbish as a guide, they are producing some high quality products, time to stop considering it as such.

Originally Posted by Bobman

As soon as Chinese folk stop deciding to be slaves and demand decent wages, you can kiss any Chinese manufacturing goodbye and all the companies that moved there will come back here crying for forgiveness.

already are my freind and the manufacturing is still steaming ahead, why becasue the govenment recognises the benifits to their economy and knows that if manufacturing stops so do they sure the avrage wage isnt on par with ours but its getting closer fast.

But thats OK we'll keep thinking we're better and we'll impose carbon tax's and so on so doing busienss is more expencive and we'll stick our heads further up our bums and we'll all be happy

Look at the Korean stuff, long before we were laughing at Hyadai Xl's they were building equipment and so on now there cars are good the QC is good on them some would argue better than what the falcon sees here in Aus and no ones laughing any more

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

god bless adr's...

Our "ADR's" are virtual reprints of UNECE regulations, so that would be; 'god bless the UNECE Global Technical Regulations for Motor Vehicles'.

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

http://www.hawtai-auto.com/english/

That almost-Bentley-clone on the opening page of thier website looks the business.

I'm once again reminded of the way people used to openly laugh at Japanese cars right up to the mid to late seventies. "They'll never amount to anything and always be tinny little cheap crapbuckets"...

Sure they will...

Japanese stuff had quality control and technical improvements and innovation built-in. Just take a look at how the Japanese took over the motorbike market in the early seventies; Z900 anyone? The Chinese manufacturer are all about cheap price and bells and whistles .. But no real substance. If they drove off all the other competition I wonder who they would then copy from?

[flappist]

As you all are writing on Australian, American and European made computers......

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by flappist

As you all are writing on Australian, American and European made computers......

Thanks for reminding me as I previously worked for IBM Wangaratta in RS/6000 manufacturing .. All gone OS now.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Bobman

No it won't.

Dodgy quality has been an issue with Chinese manufactured goods for 20 years already. Has anything improved? No.

As soon as Chinese folk stop deciding to be slaves and demand decent wages, you can kiss any Chinese manufacturing goodbye and all the companies that moved there will come back here crying for forgiveness.

That will be a good day.

They'll move to Vietnam and India as the next low-cost manufacturing base.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

They'll move to Vietnam and India as the next low-cost manufacturing base.

Yep. Bring on the Figo.

[BHDOGS]

At current rates how long before all cheap dodgy goods are made in africa and once africa is up and running what place is next?

[Kowalski]

I go there a couple of times a year for work, often for about a month at a time. I can honestly say the cars that I've seen there, and they're all locally assembled - even the VW's & BMW's are pretty good.
The accuracy of some of the knock-off brands is astounding!

[shedcoupe]

There's an old story about the Isle of Man TT (motorcycle race). Honda was there for one of their first visits, and the riders and engineers decided that more gears were needed in the box, so there were some discussions, drawings on envelopes, and some subsequent phone calls back to the factory.
The required gears, shafts, and so on arrived promptly by air at a time when the pommy makers couldn't even begin to think about extra gears inside five or ten years. The Japanese just wanted so succeed and did what was necessary, rather than wait to be told what to do by some 'high-up'.

I remember checking out the oldies' Mazda 808 in the seventies, when Japanese cars were called jap-cr*p. It had bolts with rolled-formed threads with captive washers, easy-to-get-at components and logical design, clear instructions and decent tool-kits, an easy-to-work-on distributor (remember distributors ?), blah blah blah, unlike the 'respectable' pommy etc. rubbish.
Now look at Japanese cars.
So the Chinese will get their act even more together for sure.
And when Africa's beating China, the penguins in Antarctica will have to be watched ...........

[Franco Cozzo]

Give it 5 years and China's manufacturing will be like Korea today, e.g - very good.

We ditched Australia for China where I work manufacturing wise. The quality is crap but for the price you pay, who cares?

[G6E Turbo 2]

And we need another imported Car in our market Because ??????

[bobthebilda]

I think the article basically answers its own question

Whether it builds cars here or not - and the likelihood considering all the economic factors is not - it seems Hawtai is committed to selling cars in Australia, but probably no earlier than 2013

[Resurrection]

The time is approaching where freight costs will be come excessive. Manufacturing industries will then need to start looking at local production rather than imports.

[stevz]

So I guess this flies in the face of the argument that Holden won't make money on local Cruze production.

[jpd80]

30 years ago Korean cars were considered with the same contempt as Chinese cars today,
I'm thinking with enough money and Western help behind them, they wont take 30 years to catch Korea.

So while the cars in the Korean/Chinese bargain segments will always be like disposable razors,
I think the Chinese will find their quality and start clawing into Hyundai, Kia, and any other Koreans around..

It is good that Ford, mazda and even Toyota are heading more upmarket, they should leave Korea to its fate.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by stevz

So I guess this flies in the face of the argument that Holden won't make money on local Cruze production.

people don't know how much cars cost to build and believe anything motor companies tell them.
They just assume that is the case because Ford and Toyota say they can't make a case for it
but what those two don't tell you is just how cheap they build their cars for over in Thailand....
Off shoring profit is much easier to do now that tariffs are no longer in place,