On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:24:55 -0400, h wrote:
"PaPaPeng" wrote in message One more point. In
China private cars MUST be scrapped at 10 years.
Taxis at 8 years. There is no point making cars that will last 20
years or good for say 300,000 miles.
That's totally insane. I'm in my 50s, and I have NEVER bought a car that
wasn't at least 10 years old with around 150,000 miles, and I usually keep
them for 5-8 years. Do the Chinese just make **** cars or is the government
populated only by control freaks? And no, my car NEVER breaks down or dies
on the road, since I keep it extremely well-maintained. Well, we ran out of
gas once, but that wasn't the car's fault.
I'd like to restate my point as "There is no point building a car like
a tank aka Detroit Iron."
Japan had this must scrap law at least 30 years ago. In their crowded
roads and limited land there were several public policy decisions that
led to the laws. The environmental one of course is to remove older
cars off the roads. Older cars have lower fuel efficiency, contribute
to air pollution as well as road pollution from oil drips. Then there
are safety concerns as older cars tend to be less well maintained yet
requiring more maintenance. The economic one is to keep Japan's car
production lines open and provide a large domestic market for new
models over shorter model change cycles.
Singapore for sure, and I think Hongkong too, has similar 10 year and
must scrap law. In Singapore you cannot even sell it to a chop shop.
That 10 year old car must be sold to the local steel mill for a total
meltdown. You have to get their certificate of destruction before you
can buy a new car.
Singapore is a tiny country of only 682.7 sq. km or 3 1/2 times the
size of Washington DC. To discourage car ownership a Toyota Camry
will set you back SGD 120,000 (1 USD = 1.5 SGD) That's only the
sticker price. To buy that you have to apply for a permit to buy a
car at more than SGD 1000. The annual road fee to use that car is
also over SGD 1000. A luxury car like the Mercedes Benz, a BMW or a
Lexus will set you back SGD 300 to 500 thousands. And these figures
are likely significant underestimates. The costs are so mind boggling
I no longer care to ask my friends there. Yet when you visit the
roads are jammed packed with the costlier makes, their reasoning being
that the car they buy will have to last 10 years and they might as
well buy the costliest one they can afford.
Me? I get around on a bicycle and I am in my mid 60s. Love it.
China came late into the automobile ownership game. I think this 10
year and must scrap law is a good ecological and ecomonic policy on
many levels.
As for engineering durability the China made cars will be of as good a
quality as you can find anywhere in the world. China produces top
quality steel, metals, plastics, etc. and her engineering is as good
as anywhere else. These are the same materials used in the foreign
owned car manufacturers to make their cars in China for the domestic
market and for export. There is no profit in using sub standard
materials or engineering as it costs the same in investment, in labor
and in time. It is highly unlikely that they can even find
substandard materials to work with. When you run a production line in
the hundreds of thousands you cannot afford to have your production
line held up because of substandard materials that require fixes while
in process. Given current design and manufacturing technologies it is
almost impossible to make a really bad car. Automobiles have become
commodities and a fashion statement.
Below is a currrent report from China. You will get an idea why all
the major auto manufacturers in the world want to jump into that
market.
============================
Official: China expected to produce 8.5 mln autos in 2007
September 23, 2007
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/6268974.html
China's auto production saw an annual growth rate of 45.8 percent
since 2002 and the country is expected to produce 8.5 million units of
automobiles in 2007, a senior official with the top economic planner
said at a forum Saturday.
By the end of 2006, output value of the country's auto industry
accounted for 3.7 percent of China's gross domestic production, said
Zhang Guobao, vice minister of National Development and Reform
Commission.
Meanwhile, employment in auto and auto-related industries accounted
for one-sixth of the nation's total workforce, he said.
China produced 5.75 million motor vehicles in the first eight months
of this year, up 23.6 percent over the same period last year,
according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Official statistics show that China exported 294,000 autos in the
first seven months this year, up 70.3 percent from the corresponding
period last year. Auto exports may exceed 500,000 units for the whole
year.
During the period, China also exported auto parts worth 8.85 billion
U.S. dollars, up 32.4 percent from the same period last year.
Source: Xinhua