Trade War Watch 16: Hot Wheels Just Got Hotter
It’s been some time since since we had a “ Trade War Watch” on mounting trade tensions in the auto industry, and thank goodness for that. In this economic climate of cuts, currency swings and bankruptcies, what we need are things which will make the situation worse, right? In May I reported about how the EU put a 20.6 percent tariff on aluminium wheels from China. The EU did this in response to complaints from domestic manufacturers. Naturally, this left a sour taste in China’s mouth. Well, over 5 months later, you’d think that the EU would have calmed down and this nasty business would be swept under the carpet, right? Erm, not quite….
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- Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
- CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
- Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
- FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
- Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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Aluminium wheels are about 1 percent of the total cost of a car, therefore, the cost increase can’t be no more that 0.22 percent according to the EU. 1%? So on a $30,000 car you can buy four new wheels at the dealer for $300? Maybe they meant each wheel was 1%!
"The EU has 501,064,211 potential customers for Chinese products. China has 1,338,612,968."
Uh, that is not the only way to look at it nor is it the most relevant. The relevant number to look at the monetary balance of trade between the EU and China.
The most recent report I was able to find quickly dates to the first half of 2009. In that period the EU exported 37 Billion Euro worth of goods to China whilst importing 103 Billion Euro worth from China. Thus, China is fact has more to loose in a trade war with the EU than does the EU.
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/6-27112009-AP/EN/6-27112009-AP-EN.PDF
The issue of comparative labor and environmental standards is likewise a very real one.