On the People's Daily Facebook page (the official news outlet of the Chinese Communist Party), this posting appeared:
Please note that, on a year-over-year basis, June sales of Ford dropped by 26 percent with June sales dropping by 38 percent, General Motors June sales dropped by 8 percent and overall U.S. car sales dropped by 22.9 percentage on a year-over-year basis. In contrast, sales of both Japanese and German cars increased over the same year-over-year period.
Just in case you were curious, here is a graphic showing automobile sales in China from May 2017 to May 2018 (in thousands):
Here is a graphic showing total vehicle sales in China since 2008:
To help you put that number into context, here is a graphic showing total vehicle sales in the United States since 2008:
While China's auto sales are far lower than that of the United States, over the long-term, the growth in China's middle class will be a major consumer of automobiles.
So, who is there to step in where Americans step out? Apparently, BMW is expected to be the first foreign car maker in China to take a majority share in a joint venture with Brilliance Auto Group. China currently requires that foreign automakers partner with local companies with their ownership stake capped at 50 percent. According to BMW, the company will take a stake of a least 75 percent in the BMW Brilliance Auto venture which produced and sold 380,000 BMWs in China during 2017.
Given that China's trade surplus with the United States has jumped 14 percent on a year-over-year basis for the first six months of 2018, hitting $217.7 billion, the American trade war with China is unlikely to end anytime soon, no matter how painful it may become to American consumers and Corporate America.
So, are trade wars still easy to win? Apparently, not necessarily. This is a fine example of yet another unintended consequence.
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In the end I predict that Chinese companies will grab almost all the auto sales in China. People are naive if they do not recognize the distinct advantage a state-driven economy has over free enterprise, at least initially. A bit predatory in nature, such a system can quickly exploit the weaknesses of its competitors. It is important we recognize China is a state-run economy based on a business model that is geared to expand by crushing the competition.
ReplyDeleteSubsidizing those companies working within its system in a multitude of ways helps it achieve this goal. Countries that export goods at slightly below cost in exchange for manufacturing jobs are not stupid they are predatory and we in America are their prey. The article below explores the ramifications of this.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2017/12/china-state-driven-business-model.html