China, Cars and Biden

 Nowhere in Chinese Car-Making Is About to Take Over the World from InsideHook is there any mention of President Biden. There is this:

But that’s going to be a two-way road, and one with a rude awakening for the destination. Chinese-made cars are, of course, already on Main Street — Volvo XC60s, for example, are built for the U.S. market in China; General Motors builds its Buick Envision in China as well. Now Chinese-made Chinese brands are set to follow, and not least because the Chinese have spotted the opportunity to become a world leader in hybrid and electric vehicles, especially given the nation’s expertise in batteries and its access to the raw materials needed to make them. China’s EV sales almost doubled last year, with some eight million EVs expected to be sold by the end of this year. That would make up half of the world’s EV sales, with many home-grown models affordable in ways they still are not in the west. Indeed, if authoritarianism has its advantages, the government there has said it won’t allow the foundation of any car company that plans to make cars with conventional combustion engines.

“I think western car-makers understand the coming impact of the Chinese automotive market now. The problem is that they’re reacted very slowly to it, and especially its more recent emphasis on electric vehicles,” says Ran Zhou, China analyst with Vienna-based EFS Consulting, which specializes in the automotive sector. This prescient shift to EVs was, he says, actually driven by the Chinese government at least in part wanting to avoid the prohibitive patent fees involved in developing combustion engines.

“It was a way of getting away from Western tech and pushing their own, very latest tech,” he adds. “And now western manufacturers should be worried because the Chinese industry isn’t just start-ups anymore but big players filing their own patents [on EV and other tech].”

What’s more, Chinese car manufacturers are looking to dominate the EV market both through some unconventional products — creating new categories along the way, like the multi-purpose vehicle or SUV/sedan crossovers — and unconventional business practices, too.

Take, for instance, the first EV SUV from Lynk&Co, the European-designed, Chinese-made sub-brand created by Geely — which already sells in South America — specifically for export. Expected to enter the U.S. market next year, the model comes with a lifetime warranty and is available on a monthly subscription basis, which, Air BnB-style, allows subscribers to sublet use of their car for whatever fee they can get. It’s pitched at what the company estimates to be the 15% or so of motorists who aren’t that interested in cars, who aren’t wowed by the industry’s naval-gazing obsession with handling and horsepower.

No, I add the President. He is not interested in bogus, vapid phrases like wokeness, or in mindless logos like MAGA. Neither does he invoke jingoism towards China. Biden believes we can compete with China. Unlike the Republicans, he has faith in America still having a can-do spirit. But what do Americans think the same of themselves?

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