Chinese manufacturers that I think would actually do well in North America.

"not for canada - australian in disguise" (for-canada) 07/23/2016 at 02:38 • Filed to: CHINESE CARS, GREAT WALL, FOTON, MG, QOROS

2

14

Let’s face it. We’re going to have Chinese cars soon. It’s just a matter of who and when.

Let’s start with the manufacturer I think has the most chances to enter NA, Great Wall, they’ve got a small pickup which is something everybody says they want, the Steed (Known as the Wingle in China, you can tell why they don’t call it that in the West).

There’s the Hover, which is very Axiom-like, and that’s certainly not a bad thing, the Axiom was awesome.

Then there’s the M4, which could make a very good Juke/Trax/HR-V/et cetera competitor.

Australia’s had Great Wall for a while, and the UK gets them too.

There’s also a few other models, but these three would probably be sufficient for North America. Chery and SAIC could also have a chance, through their Qoros and MG brands respectively.

Then, there’s another truck manufacturer, Foton, who make a very tasty looking Cummins-powered small pickup, also already being sold in Australia.

Perhaps we could see a few manufacturers partnering up to sell cars. I’m thinking Qoros/Foton and MG/Great Wall dealers could work. Neither MG or Qoros have trucks, Great Wall’s passenger cars don’t look great, and Foton only makes trucks.

CRider > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 04:02

0

Toyota has been struggling to get people to buy Tundras. You think the Chinese have a chance?

Laurence > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 06:39

0

MG and Great Wall are both sold in the UK, and neither are doing all that well based on how many I see. The cars are priced so close to their European, Korean and Japanese competitors that most people aren’t willing to take the risk of buying a car from a company with no (or in MGs case, a bad) reputation. China have come pretty far from the cars they were making not too long ago, but it’ll be a while before they get popular or make it to America

Svend > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 06:50

0

I’ve never seen a Great Wall on U.K. roads and I think I’ve seen maybe two or three MG3s since they came out.

The top Great Wall pickup looks like a rebadged early VW Amorak, the Great Wall M4 looks like a rebadged Suzuki SUV and the final Foton looks like a rebadged Isuzu pickup.

Probenja > Svend 07/23/2016 at 09:17

0

Actually the pre facelift Wingle was a copy of a concept VW:

With an Isuzu interior:

The Foton and M4 are all original as far as Chinese standards go.

fhrblig > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 09:31

0

I would bet that Toyota would do everything they could to block Great Wall due to repeated intellectual property theft. That M4 is a Toyota ist/Scion xA copy. They also cribbed the xB for their Coolbear.

Probenja > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 09:38

0

Get them some GMC’s, sorry JAC’s.

Honestly the Foton is the only Chinese truck i’d consider just for the Cummins engine. The rest are pretty bad.

carcrasher88 > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 10:40

1

I can also see the Hover doing decent here, but the Steed’s interior is too much of a first generation Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon ripoff for anyone NOT to notice, and the M4 not only share’s it’s name with BMW’s performance coupe, but looks to much like a Suzuki SX4/Scion xA/Ford Escape fusion to be successful here, even if it has a great looking interior.

Qoros I can see being very sucessful, since they seem to be turning out to be the Chinese Volvo (not to be confused with the fact that Geely owns Volvo), with very good crash test ratings across the board.

MG could do decent as well, partially because of brand recognition, though the MG 6 might suffer because some may think it looks a little too much like a Kia on the side and a Subaru in the back.

The Foton, though...I’d say it could be successful if they use the Thunder nameplate that is used in the Philippines, and those components (Cummins engine, Dana axles and differentials, BorgWarner differential) were made here in the US, and Foton built a plant to manufacturer them in the US as well...or buy out Mitsubishi’s old Normal, Illinois plant and retool it.

lonestranger > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 14:53

1

I think the Great Wall Steed was sold here in what I’m pretty sure was its previous form: the first-gen Colorado/Canyon. Ignore the restyled front clip & bed, the cab & doors are identical part from the mirrors, door rub strips, and a fatter CHMSL.

I’d wager it’s not a ripoff, but that Great Wall bought the rights and/or tooling from GM, something that’s not uncommon there (e.g. BAW Knight S12 = XJ Cherokee, Hongqi CA7200 = Audi 5000).

not for canada - australian in disguise > lonestranger 07/23/2016 at 14:56

1

Great Wall does have a deal with Isuzu. So it’s not unlikely that the Steed is really just an old D-Max. But still, I hear people talk about all the time how they miss the old Colorado and Canyon, and boom, there’s your old Colorado!

certified cool guy > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/23/2016 at 19:57

2

Name aside, what about Trumpchi? They’re selling an actually pretty good and safe compact crossover for $17k in china.

not for canada - australian in disguise > certified cool guy 07/23/2016 at 22:33

0

Trumpchi would probably do well. A few years ago there were rumours that they would come over here. They probably would have to sell their cars under the GAC badge if they do, considering the word Trump hasn’t got the best connotations anymore.

And, the GA5 is basically an old Alfa, which is always a good thing for fields other than dependability and reliability.

RT > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/30/2016 at 21:03

1

The only Great Wall Britain gets is the Steed, and it’s a rare sight - I don’t remember the last time I saw one.

You do see the occasional Chinese MG around here every now and then, but judging by reviews they’re far behind the competition, so I can only really see them working as a budget brand.

There’s a Chinese microvan called the DFSK Loadhopper (complete with a fake BMW grille) which is sold here since the Japanese brands no longer sell anything similar in local dealers. Again it’s very rare, I’ve only seen about two on the roads.

The UK market also gets the electric BYD e6 minivan pictured (but only for taxis). From what I’ve heard it’s also not very good either.

But there are some good Chinese cars out there. The Trumpchi brand could do well and Qoros got a perfect safety rating in recent crash tests. Great Wall would be good at filling the gap the Chevy S-10 and Isuzu left behind in the US market too. I guess we’ll find out in the future.

not for canada - australian in disguise > RT 07/30/2016 at 21:08

1

BYD was actually planning to enter North America a while back, but plans fell through. They do actually sell electric busses here.

RT > not for canada - australian in disguise 07/30/2016 at 21:10

1

When it comes to electric cars, BYD have got the hang of the electric part, just not the car part yet.