Geoffrey York writes in yesterday's Globe&Mail that "China stalls North American auto move." Much of the story is about companies like Cherry saying that it will take at least four more years before their cheap vehicles are available for sale in the USA and Canada.
The excuses: The USA is the world's toughest market; more time is needed to set up the dealer network; cars need to be built of sufficient quality for the American consumer; the Russian and Asian markets are exploding.
Left unsaid is the real reason: safety.
Chinese car makers were ready to enter the European market last year, and then their poorly designed cars hit a brick wall: crashtest dummies reported that humans would not survive when European agencies safety-tested the imported vehicles. The German test organization reported that Chinese cars were the worst that they ever tested.
It occurs to me that this is related to human rights. Western countries that respect the rights of humans to life, liberty, etc., build cars differently from countries whose rulers are so disinclined.
Comments