(Note for number-junkies: SAIC China’s largest automaker? Isn’t that GM, supposedly? Isn’t Volkswage

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Talk about bad timing: One day after the elections that were preceded vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly by the time-honored custom of China-bashing ( with a little Japan-bashing mixed in, you never know) China's largest automaker announced that the long feared attack of the Chinese car on American soil won't happen anytime soon.
It s really clear, in the short term several years there is no plan for a car business in North America for SAIC, said Yi Lu, head of SAIC USA told Reuters. The 39 year old Yi previously vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly was chief of Cadillac in China.
Detroiters had suspicions when SAIC opened a 30,000-square-foot vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly office in Birmingham, Michigan. SAIC says the office is strictly for peaceful purposes, such as purchasing, logistics, technology and engineering.
(Note for number-junkies: SAIC China's largest automaker? Isn't that GM, supposedly? Isn't Volkswagen after that crown? SAIC has joint ventures with GM and Volkswagen, and generously grants the foreigners to claim all Chinese sales as theirs. Then, SAIC claims them again and says: "In 2011, SAIC Motor sold over 4 million vehicles, thus keeping its leadership on the China domestic automotive market.")
several years . I ll buy that. The new MG roadster will probably be shown first in 2014, and they have always stated that the new roadster would lead their entry into the US market. SAIC designers openly admit that their next-gen vehicles will be designed with US tastes vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly in mind. They have had exploratory discussions vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly with major American dealer groups, but there doesn t seem any rush to get started. 2015-2016 has always seemed vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly like the time frame, and Mr Lu s comments don t seem to change that perception. However, now it s likely that they will not be first Chinese brand to enter our market.
This sounds right. If SAIC is going to come to the US, it will doubtlessly be with the MG brand, not Roewe or Shanghai. MG is still *relatively* well known here, and still with *relatively* positive connotations. But, trying to sell sedans like the MG6 or MG3 here would be a non-starter, they can t even move them in the UK where MG was already known as primarily a purveyor of middle-of-the-road sedans and hatches, so they wouldn t stand a chance in the US, where MG was always known as exclusively a sports car brand.
SAIC are really in no hurry though. They re making plenty of money selling MGs and Roewes in China and have shown little sign of making any attempt to properly reestablish MG in Britain and Europe beyond a token foothold. They ll get around to designing a proper sports car for Western tastes when they re good and ready, right now they just don t see the need.
Detroiters had suspicions when SAIC opened a 30,000-square-foot office in Birmingham, Michigan. SAIC says the office is strictly for peaceful purposes, such as purchasing, logistics, technology and engineering.
I don t know how many Detroiters had such suspicions. Though I m sure that some folks don t know about it, people around here are well aware of the presence of foreign vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly based automotive firms here. Many automakers based outside the US, including some that don t sell cars here, have some kind of office or facility in the Detroit vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly area. Tata has an engineering shop here. Hyundai/Kia have a technical center outside of Ypsilanti which itself is not far from Toyota s billion dollar vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly R D center in Ann Arbor. Even domestic startups like Tesla that aver to do things differently than Detroit does have engineering shops here. Bottom line is that if you are in the car biz you almost necessarily have to have a facility in or near SEMI.
Detroit is the global center of the auto industry much as Los Angeles is to films and NYC is to finance. Plenty of Bollywood vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly producers have offices vacation rentals gulf shores al pet friendly in LA and I m sure that most major European and Asian banks have offices in NYC.
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