Chinese Cars for Canada...For or Against?

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I've been listening to both sides lately on radio talk shows. There's interesting points on both sides. Doug Ford seems dead set against it.
It's getting political too.
I'm sure we all remember Datsun and Lada....imported cars either get better or they crash and burn?
Thoughts?
 
We need to diversify from American auto manufacturers, who are under threat to move all production to the US. I think it's a solid idea. Chinese automakers have made hugs strides in the past 20 years. Some of their homegrown designs pass strict crash standards and are viable competitors in Europe. We have the natural resources these vehicles need, and the parts manufacturing experience to supply these automakers who will be incentivised to open plants here.

Ford can pound sand. We need this.
 
chansen said:
We need to diversify from American auto manufacturers, who are under threat to move all production to the US. I think it's a solid idea. Chinese automakers have made hugs strides in the past 20 years. Some of their homegrown designs pass strict crash standards and are viable competitors in Europe. We have the natural resources these vehicles need, and the parts manufacturing experience to supply these automakers who will be incentivised to open plants here.

Ford can pound sand. We need this.
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Again I agree......I also heard somewhere along the way that Tesla's batteries can only be charged 80% while the Chinese Cars can be charged 100% ....Did I hear that right?
And of course there are those who say we shouldn't be bringing the cars here because of the 2 Michael's.....
 
Lithium batteries degrade with high temperatures. Charging to 100% causes heat to build. Even with your phone, it will help the life of you batter to limit the charge to 80%. This slows the degradation to a negligible amount.

I'm not aware the Chinese have solved this. If they claim to, I wouldn't be shocked if their 100% is actually 80% of the battery's true capacity.
 
Waterfall said:
Datsun
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Datsun is still around. They are Nissan now and ranks pretty highly among the Japanese cars.

As long as the EV offerings from domestic sources, including the North American branch plants of the Japanese companies, remain limited and often pricey, I am all for getting some more affordable ones to market, including bringing in brands like BYD and Geely.

(Fun fact: Volvo is owned by Geely. They scooped the Swedish company up after Ford dumped it )
 
Waterfall said:
And of course there are those who say we shouldn't be bringing the cars here because of the 2 Michael's.....
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Which happened how many years ago now? If we are going to let politics dictate our automobile choices, how about not buying US vehicles given current reality there? No one is being forced to buy them so if people want to feel righteous by boycotting them, they can. But let it be a choice.

To be clear, there are no actual Canadian car companies. It is all branch plants of American and Japanese companies. Both my Hondas were built in Alliston, Ontario. I do think moves to encourage the Chinese to move some production here would be a good idea, but I am not hung up on that. We need better and cheaper EVs and competition will help with that
 
Totally this.

EVs were supposed to save us money. Instead, the upfront cost barrier keeps people away.

We need cheap 2 and 4 seater sedans. We need small, cheap trucks. If they run on electricity, even better. People are having to buy 10+ year old vehicles. We need cheaper options. Hyundais aren't cheap anymore.
 
Mendalla said:
To be clear, there are no actual Canadian car companies. It is all branch plants of American and Japanese companies. Both my Hondas were built in Alliston, Ontario. I do think moves to encourage the Chinese to move some production here would be a good idea, but I am not hung up on that. We need better and cheaper EVs and competition will help with that
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The first Toyota's were sent to California called the Toyopet Crown in 1958. It was imported not manufactured in North America. A dealership for them was established in Hollywood, California and they sold only 287 cars the first year. Toyota's first entry into the US was a struggle because they were underpowered for American highways so they stepped back to redesign the cars.
The 1986 Carolla FX 16 was the first manufactured car and was built in Fremont California.
So China may have a struggle initially, but who knows. If they put up dealerships initially, I'm sure they'll figure out what the cheaper route is-----import by boats or build them here.
 
Seems Doug Ford is calling Chinese EV's "Spy Cars" and that this deal will undermine further negotiations with the US.
 
We're already carrying around phones that listen to us every moment of the day and night. Samsung knows that my truck needs brakes before I do.

FFS, don't let CSIS buy a BYD then. I don't care if the Chinese know where my house is. They already know my address and my Amazon orders.
 
Waterfall said:
Seems Doug Ford is calling Chinese EV's "Spy Cars" and that this deal will undermine further negotiations with the US.
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Right now, the biggest thing undermining negotiations with the US is their president. Some Canadians would probably buy a Chinese car just to shoot him the middle finger. Hell, some Americans would ...

And that's our government's problem, not ours. Me choosing BYD over (spit) Tesla won't even register. And, frankly, my guess is this is Carney shooting a warning shot across Trump's bow to let him know he's not the only game in town and Xi will work with us if he won't.
 
It is not what they know but what they take away by abstraction and put it in an unknown spot ... it is growing (and black, mysterious to say least)!

Something to look into ... deductions that are questionable? Matter's unknown ...
 
I'm for them.

I am hopeful that the market will like them, and they will work in the country.
If so, possibly we will see investment in Canada for expanded manufacturing / sales

I am also in favour of dumping the f35s for the same reason
 
America has informed us that it is going to use our reliance on them against us. We can either give in to increasingly unfair demands, or we can diversify our imports and exports.

The Chinese are disrupting the automotive market. Good. It needs to be disrupted. New vehicle pricing is outpacing income. Car manufacturers could make more smaller and cheaper cars that cost less to repair, but they don't. So we will get them elsewhere.

In the case of the F35, it is by far more capable than the Saab Gripen. But Saab is not likely to hold us over a barrel for replacement parts, or turn off functionality if Sweden decides it doesn't like us.

We're never winning a traditional war against the U.S. We don't need the most amazing stealth aircraft. We need reliable planes and a quantity of aircraft to cover fast areas. We don't design them here anymore, so we need to buy them from a reliable partner that doesn't even pretend they want to annex us. If we build some planes or parts here, even better.

There needs to be consequences to the current U.S. administration's threats. Those consequences need to extend into multiple future administrations, not matter how friendly.
 
Agreed regarding evaluation of both the US situation and the planes.
I am no more afraid of the chinese having access to cars than I am of the US having so.

Threats of annexation, and economic warfare have shifted that.
 
My opinion is that we are screwed. It’s a bad idea to buddy up with a communist foreign power. It’s a bad idea to buddy up with Trump. It’s a bad idea that everybody’s gearing up for war. There’s no good outlook.
 
Total independence is best ... however that too has some downfall attached ... thus disseminating divisions of considerable degree wrecking senses of affiliation ... the independents run off!
 
I am against the North America strategy of exacerbating tension problem-reaction-solution style using both sides of the political psyop to usher in an authoritarian technocratic police state dystopia.

Personally, I am not inclined to purchase an EV under any circumstances.
 
WhyCzar said:
Personally, I am not inclined to purchase an EV under any circumstances.
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Which is a fair decision, too. The Chinese companies used to make gasoline vehicles (I remembers seeing BYDs and Geelys over there) but EVs have been their focus in recent years given the need for China to have large numbers of inexpensive EVs to come even close to meeting it's Paris commitments. And the rest of the world has need of inexpensive EVs as well so why not let the pros do it?

Frankly, our next car is going to be replacing the "family car" that we use for longer treks so it will be gas or hybrid. Still not convinced we have enough charging capacity in North America. But for a "daily driver" used for local commuting and shopping and such? Sure, an EV would work just fine for me. Unfortunately, last time I bought a car, the market was still recovering from COVID and EVs were even harder to get than cars period so I went with the path of least resistance and bought a gas-powered Civic. The selection in my price range was pretty limited then (3, nearly 4, years ago), too.
 
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