According to Dunne’s ZoZo Go automotive consultancy, there are 36 legitimate Chinese automakers with series production. The leaders are the Big 6 (which have Chinese government backing): SAIC, Beijing, First Auto, Dongfeng, Guangzhou, and Changan, which account for 75 percent of China-market sales. Then there are the Big 3 private companies (Geely, BYD, and Great Wall), followed by 21 joint ventures with Western automakers and six independents. GAC displayed its lineup at the 2019 Detroit auto show, and plan to sell cars in the U.S. in the next couple years. Chinese automakers are ambitious and have millions of units of capacity to burn.
“Chinese companies are a wild mix of state enterprises, private companies, and tech-backed EV startups all with their own priorities, strengths, and weaknesses,” Dunne said in an interview.
For all of Congress’ saber rattling about U.S. jobs being exported to China, Chinese automakers and suppliers have already spent $31 billion (per Bloomberg data) to establish an automotive beachhead in America.
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Automakers that don’t even have market-ready cars are setting up operations here. One of the latest is Zotye—pronounced ZOH-tay—which has corralled a few U.S. industry veterans to help with the launch. (Full disclosure: Chassis dynamics ace Gordon Dickie, our SUV of the Year guest judge, is doing R&D consulting for them. )
Zotye’s website proclaims it will be the first Chinese car company to sell cars in America under its Chinese brand name, with a target launch of fall 2020. That remains to be seen, as U.S. CEO Duke Hale admits Zotye’s compact T600 crossover entry hasn’t been homologated yet. But they are moving fast.
“The cupholders are too small, it needs a different user interface for cruise control, the owner’s manuals are in Chinese,” Hale said. “They need advanced airbags and OBD-II. If the gas tank is in the wrong spot, you can’t homologate. But we already have [soft]-close doors. If you want that in a Hyundai, you need to buy a Genesis G90.”
Zotye’s initial plan: Win on price, as much as 20 percent cheaper than the mainstream brands. While acknowledging Zotye’s determination, Dunne sees Guangzhou as “the most advanced in terms of readiness. Then come NIO, Byton, and SF Motors.”
According to a recent poll by Autolist.com, about one-third of 1,264 U.S. consumers surveyed said a vehicle being built in China would affect their decision to buy it; 49 percent said it would have no impact, while 21 percent said they were unsure.
Regardless of our desires, the Chinese are arriving on our shores, just as the Europeans, Japanese, and Koreans before them.
“The Chinese are coming in fits and starts, hot and cold, in a nonlinear and unorthodox fashion,” Dunne said. “Think guerilla tactics, not a disciplined standing army.”
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