The Wall Street Journal-20080115-From the Auto Show - Excerpts from Recent Blog Entries from the North American International Auto Show
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From the Auto Show / Excerpts from Recent Blog Entries from the North American International Auto Show
China Car Makers Are Gathering Steam in Foreign-Market Ventures
China's car makers, eager to ramp up exports, are rolling steadily, if still cautiously, toward the U.S.
Three Chinese auto makers and one U.S. company with plans to import Chinese-built pickups and sport-utility vehicles are displaying vehicles at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit to try to recruit distributors and dealers.
"We are constantly seeking new opportunities in international markets," said Li Jianxian, chairman of Hunan Changfeng Motors Co., which unveiled a four-door hatchback called the Kylin. He said Changfeng intends to have cars on sale in the U.S. by the end of 2009.
Like other ambitious Chinese manufacturers, Changfeng has combined foreign expertise and high-tech components with China's relatively low wages to produce a range of sturdy, inexpensive vehicles.
Most Chinese cars lag behind Japanese, European and U.S. rivals in safety and environmental standards, but the vehicles are drawing buyers in developing countries from Russia to Latin America thanks to bargain prices. And quality has been improving rapidly.
Changfeng and the other two Chinese auto makers, Geely Group and BYD Co., put on less-than-slick presentations. The Chinese displays were downstairs from the main exhibition floor -- the auto-show equivalent of being seated at the kids' table at a family dinner. English presentations were fumbled and videos amateurish.
"We must step out of our comfort zone" in order to become "global players," Mr. Li said.
-- Gordon Fairclough
GM Shakes Up
Cadillac Division
General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac division will combine its STS and DTS vehicles into one car in coming years.
The STS, which derives its heritage from the Cadillac Seville, and the DTS, coming from the Deville lineage, are nearing the end of their life cycles. GM is losing ground in the premium-luxury large-sedan segment, which is dominated by Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus LS, Volkswagen AG's Audi A8, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and BMW AG's BMW 7-Series, and it wants to push Cadillac to the next level.
"We need to compete with one soldier, not two," Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor said in an interview. GM will attach a new nameplate to the car and target the $45,000 to $55,000 price range. Concept versions of the car should show up within the next year or so.
-- John D. Stoll
Ford, GM Marks,
Share a Chrysler
Two of the auto industry's best-known Marks, GM Marketing Chief Mark LaNeve and Ford Motor Co. Americas President Mark Fields, had an unexpected encounter Sunday in the cab of a 2009 Dodge Ram.
Mr. LaNeve, eager to check out products competitors are introducing, took a stroll. It didn't take him long to stumble upon the Dodge Ram, which has been redesigned to better compete with GM's full-size trucks.
He noticed the truck's door was open, and he slipped inside to get a closer look. To his surprise, Mr. Fields was in the passenger's seat.
"We're old friends," Mr. La-Neve said in an interview. He worked with Mr. Fields at Ford when heading Volvo. Now, Messrs. LaNeve and Fields are going head to head.
-- John D. Stoll
