40 replies to this topic

[Alex]

Its been done before with Volkswagen.

They have Chinese made veedubs, and they roll their own.

[skillionaire]

Hi,

As stated, Subaru will be the LAST of the major manufacturers to actually produce in China for the Chinese market.

The real story in China isn't so much other manufacturers producing in China, it's the Chinese manufacturers themselves;

Consider if you will that 130 Chinese car companies combined will be producing more cars than Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, Chrysler, by 2018. In 2006, these companies major global brands had 85% of the world market share, but they'll have to step aside for Chinese Automakers. And China has a middle class that will be at 500 million by 2012. Even with the Global Economic crisis which put a dampener on its 10% year-over-year GDP growth.

Cheers,
Nik

[legacy rsk]

they produce audi's and VW's in china already nothing new

[B4TT]

Yeah the Polo was made there and sold here, but we dont get any of the chinese made Audi/VW stuff in Aus at the moment

[XXB4XX]

Hi,

Like I said Brendan, the cars made in China, are sold in China. You won't see one here.

Cheers,
Nik

fair enuf.. I really just wanted to use that Mardi gras term against you to be honest

Josh.. e.g New ford focus - Sif Afrika!

[B4TT]

yeah, half the new BMW's are made there.. most of the 3 series are.

[Shiv]

Heck, if Toyota was the ONLY choice, I wouldn't hate myself for having a TRD Aurion in the driveway (non-new cars not included)

Cheers,
Nik

Yeah that Aurion was the odd ball of the Toyota lineup in a good way. I also really dig the TRD Hilux.

[legacy rsk]

my focus is made in GERMANY

[Shiv]

my focus is made in GERMANY

Haha really? Meanwhile some VW's are made in Brazil whilst some Mercs are made in South Africa

[XXB4XX]

my focus is made in GERMANY

The poor immigrant part..

[legacy rsk]

The poor immigrant part..

should have expected crap from you

here you go shiv

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saarlouis

[XXB4XX]

should have expected crap from you

here you go shiv

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saarlouis

Heheh, dont worry Shane, I actually seriously considered a focus XR5, I reckon they look awesome, I'd take one over a new model rex any day of the week.. And I know I'll get flamed, but I really like the orange colour

[Jimbo]

Yeah that Aurion was the odd ball of the Toyota lineup in a good way. I also really dig the TRD Hilux.

LOL too bad no one else does, i have never seen a single one on the road.

Problem with Toyota, they have gone soft. Pure whitegoods and fleet cars. And they have canned all the good cars, Supra, Celica, MR2 the whole lot have been deleted. The new FT86 wont be enough to regain that part of the market, not saying they need it. But if they want to be the be-all and conquer the market, they need to appeal to the 20-30YO enthusiast market again, much the reverse of what Subaru have done. By watering down the WRX they have suddenly made a cult car more accessible, at the end of the day its all about dollars. However though, given the recent changes to the WRX since the new model, it would seem its just not quite as popular as it should have been and thus they rectified that. Toyota need to bring back the bad boys, not put racing stickers on washing machines ala Hilux and Aurion TRD, how much of a flop were those?!

Back to the original story, i cant see an issue with shipping some production overseas. I hardly beleive Subaru would compromise on quality just because its made in China. If you have good quality and expensive building, you can still maintain quality but cut your building expenses, your still ahead. Theres a massive misconseption that becuase its made in China its shit ( i know this doesnt apply in all cases, where frankly some stuff made in China is rubbish ), whats the difference between a set of Chinese hands and anyone elses? In my retail experience, you often get customers bagging goods as the sizes are all backwards and nothing fits right due to weird "Chinese Sizes". This isnt the case, ALOT of stuff is actually designed here, then a sample is made on our shores then sent over seas to be duplicated ala China. When the delivery came back of the complete manufactured stock, a random sample was taken from the boxes. This sample was then inspected to the tee and even weighed to make sure it complied with quality control.

I know that it some cases shipping manufacturing overseas can have an impact on quality but i think Subaru has too much at stake to compromise quality. Maybe if they cut some costs doing that, they can spend more on design and innovation!

[aekOne]

Theres a massive misconseption that becuase its made in China its shit ( i know this doesnt apply in all cases, where frankly some stuff made in China is rubbish ), whats the difference between a set of Chinese hands and anyone elses?

+1

All of our sunglasses are hand made, hand painted, hand set and assembled. Originally they were all made in Italy, then we moved production to Japan, back to Italy and now in China. We've found that the quality of stock produced there is far better and consistent than any other production from Europe and Asia.

Also in our footwear, the technology they're developing there is amazing. some of the fusion methods of sole construction that we're now using is so far beyond sewing a leather upper to a rubber sole. We can make shoes using three different foam densities, eva mid sole and rubber outer without any glue using cold fusion. the quality, attention to detail and durability are absolutely top shelf.

The problem with China is they have the resources to make goods as well if not better than anywhere in the world BUT a lot of companies simply use it for the cheap labor to mass produce low quality items.

Hopefully subaru take the high road and use the good resources China has to offer to mass produce their cars but not lose the quality control of the brand

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Although I appreciate your well thought out post, I feel I must again mention, the cars built in China will be sold IN CHINA.

I agree that there is a certain ignorance with regards to the quality of some of the things produced in China, but I think on the whole it is hard to argue that sending something to a cheaper workforce to produce something for a higher profit at a probable loss of quality in craftsmanship for your customers just isn't a good card to play. You can justify globalisation if you like, but the simple fact is, the only reason they are heading to China for these operations is because China is the largest consumer and they are about to blow the car market to pieces with knock off's.

The topic got a bit skewed, and to be honest, this has been the coolest conversation on here for a minute.

Cheers,
Nik

[aekOne]

the cars built in China will be sold IN CHINA.

yeah i guess that's the thing. we need not "worry" for now at least. these are for the CDM market only.

hmm makes we wonder if CDM parts will ever become desirable to the quest to be different?

[skillionaire]

Hi,

VERY DOUBTFUL.

Cheers,
Nik

[aekOne]

forget alcantara, moon bear trimmed seats are gonna be the next big thing

[Alex]

Aek raised a very good point, that can't be dismissed.


There will be a flooding of CDM based parts. Not just trims, but panels, and engine components.

With the release of the new boxer motor, I bet Subaru will continue production of the EJ series engines in China, and possibly move manufacturing plants to continue production of the EJ series engines there.

We'll see how the quality stacks up in the years to come.

[XXB4XX]

On the plus side Alex, my new AFM and an o2 sensor will cost me $1.40 delivered with a free tshirt.