Even as the Beijing Auto Show prepares to toast the Chinese market with its typical mixture of sex and tech, industry insiders have been stunned by recent news showing the market share of domestic Chinese manufacturers falling relative to their foreign counterparts, a trend that has persisted even in the face of strongly preferential government policies and even overt efforts to push the industry into Chinese hands. In this show, we ask what this failure means for Chinese ambitions to be an international automotive giant, and whether the government is losing its ability to pick favorites in the market?Hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn, this episode of Sinica features special guest Greg Anderson, a political scientist and expert on the Chinese automobile market whose research involves tracking the differences between state-owned and private automotive companies, and who has found himself right in the middle of this curious puzzle. If you work or track any industry which the Chinese government considers strategic, this show is an absolutely must-listen: take a listen and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.And if you want more Sinica? To have your computer automate downloading new editions of Sinica as they're released, just subscribe to our show through iTunes. To do this open the Advanced file menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu. Provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Or just continue to visit Popup Chinese, and download our shows manually as we release them. The link for this week's show is right here.
Sinica
said on April 26, 2012
Mentions this week include Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry by Greg Anderson, Bo Guagua's statement in the Harvard Crimson, Beijing Jeep by Jim Mann and Joe McDonald's recent piece on electric car leadership (or its absence) in China.Recommendations include the book Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher, a piece on sinostand.com about the remarkable similarities between CCTV interviews and People's Daily editorials and a piece by Frank Ching in the Yale Global Online: Will Bo's Fall Presage Rise of China's Reformers?.Also mentioned from Yale Global Online was the series Power Shift in China which includes part I by Cheng Li, part II by Stapleton Roy and part III by Susan Shirk.
ideotek
said on May 3, 2012
I would have liked to hear your guest's opinions on the recent export tax threats on US vehicles by the gov't, perhaps whether that was due in part to ecological concerns as well as financial ones. But that's not to say I didn't enjoy the in-depth look at the industry in china. As always, great show!
ianfinnesey
said on May 5, 2013
One possible reason why chinese brand market share might have gone down after their stimulus: If they were taking sales from the future via incentives, who is it that's most likely to jump on that? The ones who benefit the most are the ones who were on the edge of being able to buy a car. They're the ones more likely to be buying Chinese brands' cheaper cars. Sure, the average black Audi buyer might light an incentive, but is it going to stop him or even slow him down not having it? The sales you take from the future are skewed toward the Chinese brands.
