Think I’m kidding? Check this out. And I bet it costs a lot less.
Suppose they start building Harley knock offs.
Also, read this.
I’m old enough to remember when the Honda 600 came over to the U.S. There were a lot of jokes about it, too small, low power, lousy quality, etc. A few years later, the jokes stopped. Honda makes a great car and motorcycle and we’re better off for them being here. Of course Detroit took a long time to adjust and they’re still having problems. The Chinese are coming and I have a hunch there’s about to be another motor vehicle shakeup.
Remember the song that goes,” Get ready, cause here I come.”?
I want to be clear about what I’m saying and why I’ve been writing about this, I don’t believe this is either good or bad, it’s just that I don’t believe many people have a clue about the size of what is soon going to happen.
James - Whybike.com says
“Fideley Di, Fideley Dum, Look out baby, ‘cuz here I come”
I agree that not only China but India, as well as Southeast Asia to a lesser extent, will dramaticly change the world economy in the future. I am not sure how soon though. Many are claiming in the next 20 years. I have some sceptisism because of the substandard infrastructure in those countries. Sure there are some systems that are better than the US or Europe, but on a whole they have a ways to go.
kneeslider says
James, I think you’re optimistic if you think it will take 20 years, more like 5. General Motors is taking on water and listing to port, Ford has just said it will lose market share, the motorcycle companies I’ve already discussed, while Zongshen is turning out a million motorcycles a year. Their infrastructure is a lot further along than you might think.
If we could produce and sell in their country the same way they can in ours, no problem, but that’s not the case. Motorcycle tariffs used to be 50%, I think they were lowered to 30% recently but that’s still pretty darn high when you try to compete with their companies who only have to pay their local wage rates and have no OSHA or similar restrictions.
hoyt says
Korea seemed to come out of nowhere; but their products are going to be around for awhile.
I read an article recently regarding the improving relationships between India & China where Indian Prime Minister said,
“India and China can together reshape the world order.”
I made the comment earlier about the poor Chinese quality. The changing economies in China, India, & southeast Asia will be interesting for Europe and North America. Maybe this will wake us up and address the gap between “have’s” & “have-nots” & seek the better balance.
The boom in China & India must have waken up the oil industry, energy policy makers, etc. around the globe….”hey, wait a minute, the supply numbers just fell off the charts…”
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/11/china.india/