prc30 on Nostr: Little surprises me when it comes to conversations centered on China, but this clip ...
Little surprises me when it comes to conversations centered on China, but this clip of the Ford Motor CEO discussing the Xiaomi SU7 stunned me. As someone who drives a Nio, I’ve found the Chinese EVs, while by no means perfect, to easily be the best value for consumers. Jim Farley – again the CEO of Ford Motor – goes even further.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive a Xiaomi, we flew one over from Shanghai to Chicago and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up.”
Trade barriers can be erected, but in the end it is demand which will be the ultimate arbiter of a product’s success or failure.
The Americans, and doubly so for the Europeans, will need to do better. Protectionist ideologies only delay the inevitable. Nations either find a way to effectively compete or their industries face extinction. You can point the blame in the direction of state sponsored subsidies. For myself that is an issues for sure, but it isn’t the singular issue. America and Europe are just not competitive in manufacturing at scale. The Chinese are, and this – right here – is the basis for China having a competitive advantage. This is why China wins and will keep winning.
All of this should be a warning. It points to the fatal flaw of the American-led strategy to deny China access to advanced software (ie. chips). The software has no value if it’s not deployed into hardware, and it is China that builds nearly every single piece of hardware on the planet. What comes first? G7 nations build out a (competitively priced) hardware manufacturing base or China develops a homegrown chip industry?
I’d even go so far as to say that the ramifications of these policies are already playing out. Just ask the ASML shareholders.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive a Xiaomi, we flew one over from Shanghai to Chicago and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up.”
Trade barriers can be erected, but in the end it is demand which will be the ultimate arbiter of a product’s success or failure.
The Americans, and doubly so for the Europeans, will need to do better. Protectionist ideologies only delay the inevitable. Nations either find a way to effectively compete or their industries face extinction. You can point the blame in the direction of state sponsored subsidies. For myself that is an issues for sure, but it isn’t the singular issue. America and Europe are just not competitive in manufacturing at scale. The Chinese are, and this – right here – is the basis for China having a competitive advantage. This is why China wins and will keep winning.
All of this should be a warning. It points to the fatal flaw of the American-led strategy to deny China access to advanced software (ie. chips). The software has no value if it’s not deployed into hardware, and it is China that builds nearly every single piece of hardware on the planet. What comes first? G7 nations build out a (competitively priced) hardware manufacturing base or China develops a homegrown chip industry?
I’d even go so far as to say that the ramifications of these policies are already playing out. Just ask the ASML shareholders.