How China Became the World’s Largest Car Exporter
fliptop writes:
Just two decades ago, China had little capacity to make cars, and owning one was considered novel. Today, China produces and exports more cars than any other country in the world:
President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised to impose new tariffs on China. Many countries, including the United States, already levy extra tariffs on China's electric vehicles. But with all of the advantages China wields in automaking, this pushback is unlikely to undercut China's dominance.
China's home market for car sales is the world's largest - almost as big as the American and European markets combined.
As China's domestic market grew, so did its production capacity, propelled by massive government investment and world-beating advances in automation. Yet in recent years, the pace of sales has fallen behind as consumer spending slows in China's economic downturn. The result is that China today has the capacity to make nearly twice as many cars as its consumers need.
[...] But China's trading partners say that China's exports of both electric and gasoline-powered cars imperil millions of jobs and threaten major companies. Earlier this year, the United States and the European Union put significant new tariffs on electric cars from China. Governments are concerned because the auto industry plays a big role in national security, producing tanks, armored personnel carriers, freight trucks and other vehicles.
Also at ZeroHedge.
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