Chinese car makers eye US market

AW says the Chinese are trying to figure out how to make a car for you, �In the past, the Chinese really have not understood how difficult it is to make a car that meets not only emissions and safety requirements but also the kind of quality the consumers demand for the interior and even the exterior. This year, they’re talking a lot more about their technology and how they’re going to provide a pretty good car with good technology at a low price. I think that this is probably not going to be enough. The SUV market is just not doing well now. the only place we’re seeing growth right now is luxury SUVs. So I think it may be a misread of the market on their part.� LM �is there any effort on the part of the Chinese to go green, even with an SUV? How much awareness is there?� AW �they talk about that a lot, one company talking about a battery for a pure electric car, or another company talking about its hybrid electric vehicle. And they claim they’ve created all their own technology. It’s really untested. They can say what they want. But we can’t really draw any conclusions yet because nobody’s been able to take the battery apart and look at it. but yes, they definitely think that they can be big players in the whole alternative, new energy kind of vehicle.� LM �the reception that the Chinese automakers are getting there, how would you describe it especially if they’re coming on so strong with plans for hybrid cars in the future and then this $14,000 dollar SUV?� AW �I think that there’s a lot of interest among businessmen because they don’t want to miss the next Toyota. I can’t speak to the quality of these cars or how they’re going to play out but I do think there’s a lot of interest.� LM �And you live in China?� AW �right, I live in Shanghai, I’ve lived there about 10 years.� LM �well Shanghai is pretty busy anyway but I imagine as you travel around China you’ve seen a lot more vehicles on the roads than you have in the past and presumably that trend is going to continue.� AW �Well when I first started reporting on the China market for automotive news which was about 2001 and 2002, that was just when the private ownership of cars started to take off. So there are so many more private vehicles on the road now. they make up more than half the market. Of course quality of life is also becoming an issue because the traffic jams are terrible. But as we say in Chinese, you can’t compare now with back in 2002, it’s just a world of difference.� LM �and the Chinese are responding to that by hoping to sell some of the same cars they sell in China to the United States? Is there a market among the Chinese themselves for hybrids or SUVs or what?� AW �oh no, Chinese aren’t going to pay for this kind of technology at least right now.� LM �even though you say the Chinese manufacturers are all over hybrid technology you’re saying the Chinese car buyers aren’t yet?� AW �They’re all over hybrid technology because the Chinese government is strongly encouraging the Chinese economy to go into hybrid technology. The Chinese are starting at the same point as everybody else with these new technologies and it’s more of a level playing field. So they probably figured this is also some place where they can really make a name for themselves.�