Thoughts from the Curb: Americans Would Sooner Buy Chinese than Korean?
I received a press release in my e-mail yesterday. A common occurance to be sure, but one that usually results in a right-click-delete or a right-click-junk. Yesterday's from AutoPacific was given a reprieve thanks to its headline: "Americans open to vehicles from China and India."
Oh, really? According to AutoPacific's research, "15 percent of new car buyers in the United States say they would consider purchasing their next vehicle from China, and 11 percent would consider buying a car from India, without knowing specific brands or vehicles. This compares with 16 percent who said they would consider a vehicle from Korea ..."
Needle scratching off record. Wait a second, did I just read that right? There's only a 1 percent difference between the number of Americans willing to consider a Chinese car as a Korean car? If you could picture me now, I'd look something like this.
I have a couple of theories to explain this shocking statistic.
1) A majority of Americans don't know that Koreans already sell cars in this country. If you're among them, those two brands are Hyundai and Kia. Daewoo was another, but it was purchased by GM and banished back to its homeland (though the Chevy Aveo, Suzuki Forenza and Saturn Vue live on as rebadged Daewoos).
2) Even if they know Hyundai and Kia come from Korea, they still think those brands are total crap. Well, not any more. Even if they aren't class leaders, models like Hyundai's Genesis, Elantra, Sonata, Veracruz and Santa Fe are solidly built, reliable and definitely worth consideration. Ditto Kia's Soul and Forte.
3) 16 percent of Americans apparently haven't seen this video below. It's of the 2007 Brilliance BS6, a midsize car from China that folded like Kleenex when crashed into a barrier. 16 percent of Americans have also forgotten that this is the country that had no problem with lead in children's toys. Are you really going to buy a car from there?
4) A large number of Americans simply don't know the difference between China and Korea. Sorry, it's true, people are stupid. There's also a large number of Americans who don't know there's a West Virginia, who think Africa is a country and who think George W. Bush was a better president than Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Actually, the study said those who would consider a Chinese or Indian car were young, well-educated and affluent for their age. Well, I went to a Top 50 university and knew such people -- believe me, you can be young, well-educated, rich and still be a moron. From whom do you think I got the above factual treats?
5) The study also found that "those who would consider a car from China and India rate reliability and durability high, (but) they are not as interested in the dynamics of a vehicle like handling, braking and acceleration." Well, I say everyone should be concerned about braking unless you enjoy running into things. But if you're really concerned about reliability and durability, are you really going to purchase a product from a brand and country that has never sold vehicles in this country and who only recently began building cars? It took Korea nearly 20 years in this market to develop competitive, quality cars. Why would China be different? At least Indian-owned Tata owns Jaguar and Land Rover, so they know what a proper car should be. A reliable car, not so much.
6) The study said "consider purchasing." I can consider purchasing a Bugatti Veyron or a 13-foot python, but it ain't going to happen. I can consider purchasing something to the point of choosing something else at the last second or consider purchasing something for approximately 0.456 seconds. So sure, I considered purchasing a Chinese car and delivered a quick answer of "Ha, are you high?"
James Riswick, Automotive Editor
"Thoughts from the Curb" is my weekly editorial column that appears every Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. Eastern. It delves deeper into whatever automotive topic pops into my bizarre mind, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the general opinions of Edmunds.com. Do you know what the capital of Africa is?
- Posted by
- James Riswick July 29, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Thoughts from the Curb
Studies can make anything seem plausible. Thats the problem with surveys and statistics...
btw that Chinese car test is extremely alarming.
I've been very impressed with Hyundai's recent lineup (in particular the Genesis [both of them...Genesi?]). I really like the Kia Soul too (Hyundai should build something like that...the Accent is too boring).
My wife drives a 2004 Santa Fe. It's possibly one of the most uninteresting cars I've ever driven, but everything in it is solid and just works. Materials and build quality are pretty good for the price point (design-wise, it's ridiculously bland and boring, but the newer model is fairly nice...wonder how it drives...).
It's interesting the anti Chinese attitude many people have. Makes me wonder what's actually behind it.
Are they still suffering from a life time of "communism is evil and we are good" brainwashing?
Are they union members they hate the fact that there are people willing to do simple jobs for less then $30/hr?
Are they worried that over the next generation China will become the worlds biggest economic power greatly reducing American influence?
Do they not realize that vast numbers of used American,Japanese and European cars are on the road that would crumple just as bad as the one in the video?
It's easy to find the bad in a country with a billion people (or even 300 million). It just makes me wonder why some people are so quick to overlook the good.
(My early morning deep thoughts for today)
+1 JR
So if one believes that communism is bad, it must be a result of brainwashing? I think it's the opposite that's true. I also don't think one needs to spend a lifetime under communism to know that freedom and democracy are much to be preferred.
Great article. Before reading the article i didnt have a position on Chinese cars, but you took the time to explain your position and i appreciate it.
These kinds of quality articles are why I read edmunds.
edarya
I didn't say believing communism is bad is brainwashing, I said believing it is evil is brainwashing. There's a difference.
If you look at the pluses and minuses of both and decide one is better then that's great. That's what freedom is all about.
However it was portrayed as the great evil determined to conquer the world and destroy of lives. Young people might not see it as the government has worked hard to transfer the paranoia to Islam but I remember the uneducated hatred of "commies" quite well.
It's not just the US. The USSR and Chinese governments did the same to their people. Lots of propaganda to promote an "us vs. them" mentality and thus justify massive militaries and huge amounts of government power.
Anyhow it’s just something I wonder about when I see someone go to great lengths to try to justify an anti Chinese view.
I hope you're not talking about me here. I just said their cars are scary.
Nah, just more of an overall rant. I've seen so many anti-chinese stories in the past year that I've gotten annoyed.
Back on topic, I'll bet by the time their cars arrive here they will meet all the same standards as everyone else.
Didn't have time to watch the little video but ...
I am Chinese and i'm ashamed of some of the stuff that came out of the country. i appreciate that jriz pointed out that it took the Korean car makers -- Japan took a while too! -- 20 years to improve quality.
China makes some VW's, Audi's, etc, which to me means it may not be behind the know-how of India (do they actually manufacture the cars for the British brands? i have no idea). but anyway, to me a Chinese brand car now is as appealing as the Hyundai when it first came to these shores.
it's funny, my first thought was, "maybe those answering the survey flipped a coin (mentally) between Korea and China, not knowing the difference, and that's why it's close to a 50-50 split in the opinion."