Comments on: Editorial: Bloom Off The Rose For Chinese Car Industry

By: Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:36:51 +0000

… uh … no more growth necessary?

By: AG

AG — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:26:52 +0000

If I recall correctly, China requires at least 7-8% annual economic growth just to keep up with population growth.

However, one day this one-child policy of theirs is going to lead to a sharp drop in population. Then what?

By: Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:09:35 +0000

VerbalKint: You came 10 years too early. Now you must have your passport on you at all times. Life and work here is now quite good. The security surrounding plants is laxer than in Wolfsburg (where they want to impound cellphones or laptops with cameras – unless you lie and say your latest 5 megapixel phone doesn’t have a camera.) One of the juiciest jobs of the members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America: To build the new US Embassy in Beijing. Wait, the job got a little less juicy: In March, their favorite hangout Maggie’s was closed in preparation for the Olympics. Some said, at Maggie’s one could purchase companionship for yuan. I could never verify that rumor …

Some things never change: Still no heat in Shanghai. Shanghai is south of the Yangtze river, where, by official edict, it is warm, and no heat is needed. Here in Beijing, heat is officially needed between Nov 15 and March 15, and we were freezing our smaller and smaller things off last week. Now it’s cozy.

By: B.C.

B.C. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:08:17 +0000

Usually Aljazeera is an outlet for videos by bearded people living in caves in inhospitable areas of Afghanistan, and who employ pilots who can start, but not land.

That is hilariously brutal. I wonder how much hate mail you get …

By: VerbalKint

VerbalKint — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:24:51 +0000

Back in the late 90’s I worked for a Co. that designed & built auto plant welding lines. Progressives (desperates) that they were they did a GM SUV line in the Peoples “Republic”.

Among the silly observations we round-eyes made: Who are those three sour lookin’ men that follow the Chinese engineers around everywhere?

Those guys/gals sure love our shopping malls. Especially liked their shopping trip (on our dime) to NYC–two never came back. Created quite the hubbub that did!

Isn’t it strange all the safety equipment normally found in Western plants was ordered deleted?

Why on earth do they want the welding equipment to be able to weld steel stack-ups 2-3 times thicker than found on any normal vehicle?

Why is their plant surrounded by concentration camp fence? Why is the fence surrounded by a vast open space?

Why doesn’t their plant have any heat?

Why do we have to pay for the shattered, frozen water jackets that cool the equipment because the plant is not heated?

Why did they take our passports? And why didn’t we get them back until after said water jackets were replaced gratis?

“The capitalists will [continue to] sell us the rope…”

VK (now standing in the bread lines)

By: OldandSlow

OldandSlow — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:08:05 +0000

Well then…..Rick Wagoner better stay the hell out of the Tubes in downtown Detroit just case that practice catches on here the States.

By: Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:00:53 +0000

Weeeeeelll, there was a story a while ago about Korean owners of a factory in China. They shut it down and fired all workers. The enraged workers incarcerated the executives in their offices. The police did not intervene, saying it was “an international matter.” If the bosses would have been Chinese …..

And the funny thing is: A lot of Chinese workers in fact are unionized. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/09/AR2006080901924.html

But the unions are strange breed here. When I came here first 4 years ago, I joked with the head of a company: “At least you don’t have to ask the unions for everything.” “We have a union here,” the man said, “but asking is quick: I’m also the union boss.” I heart China.

By: OldandSlow

OldandSlow — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:28:55 +0000

The last thing most Asian manufacturers, especially Chinese, will tolerate is a union workforce that can shutdown assembly lines, if they are not happy. South Korea is the exception here. Their workforce regularly shuts down factories.

I’ve been to Asia. The atmosphere is way more authoritarian than it is here.

A high percentage of assembly line workers live in on-site company own dormitories.

One of the things that caught my eye was how in even in Korea and Japan the number of folks who have to wear a uniform at work. It is much more than you see here in the States and there a lot more people working in manufacturing.

Another thing that caught my eye, was the predominance of multistory apartment buildings. The Hong Kong model has really taken off in China.

With so many city dwellers living in high rises, where are the Chinese going to put all the excess cars that they’ll be producing? I’ll bet the answer is overseas.

Asia put together may well already be half of the world’s economy. With India and Brazil added, you may well be looking at economic engine of the worlds economy. Cash is king right now and Asia is still flush with cash. They better not crash and burn.