Some journalists are moving into geopolitics and raise the question of whether it is safe to buy a Chinese car.
To be clear, we of course mean a Chinese car by the title, in the same sense as we talk about ‘an Italian’ or ‘a German’ on this site. Not ‘Chinese’ in the sense of Babi Ketjap (can also be dangerous) or a person you employ in your gold mine. Nowadays you have to add it for clarity. Anyway, with that potential misunderstanding out of the way, we can discuss the subject. Is it actually safe – for your wallet – to drive in China? The question is asked by our southern neighbors from HLN and repeated by colleagues from the AD.
Move up
And the question itself is of course relevant. Because, as we have reported several times on this site: Chinese brands are increasingly taking more market share in the Dutch car market. The Lynk & Co 01 can be found on every street corner. Li Shufu has done that deftly. At first Volvo was ‘Chinese’, but in name it was still Swedish. Now the Lynk & Co 01 is actually the ‘Volvo XC40 for less’. This way we keep moving one step further.
Plethora of Chinese cars
In addition to Lynk & Co, we now also know BYD, MG, Forthing, DFSK, BAIC, Seres, SWM, JAC, BAW, Nio, Polestar, Xpeng, Hongqi and Zeekr. And it is expected that many more brands will be added that will try to crack the European market. Is there room for all those brands to grab enough market share to make it a profitable business? To ask the question is to more or less answer it. There is also the question: what if China invades Taiwan? Will there be sanctions against Chinese cars?
Mitsubishi, Daihatsu and SAAB
So a number of questions arise as to whether it is wise to buy such a car in the event that things go wrong. In the past we have seen companies that went bankrupt being forced by the EU to continue servicing existing customers. Mitsubishi and Daihatsu both left the European market, but were forced to continue providing service. At SAAB, a separate entity was set up that continues to make parts to this day.
EU can’t do anything
But in the case of these Chinese companies, the question is what the EU can do to enforce this kind of service. Here too, the following actually applies: asking the question is answering it. We have just as much chance of that as the chance of Sigrid and Rob convincing Xi Jinping that coal-fired power stations are no longer necessary bon ton are in 2023.
wagg0l without parts
So, people speculate, you could be running out of parts for your new Chinese wagg0l. Whether that is a consideration that the average leaser should take into account when choosing a car for the next four to five years…mwah. But what if you are a private individual who wants to buy your first EV cheaply and drive it? No good deed goes unpunished…
This article Mood-making: is it safe to buy a Chinese one? first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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