Jeep Outselling Chinese vehicles

Started by Solar, October 23, 2017, 01:00:24 PM

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Solar

But you have to read between the lines to understand it.
I did a bit of research before posting, so stick with me, the end posting could be a terror for American auto manufacturing.

One of the fastest growing automakers in China, the company sold 150,000 cars in the first 11 months of 2016, a 309 percent surge year-on-year.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/motoring/2016-12/19/content_27712968.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/motoring/2017-06/19/content_29792430.htm

So what do the Chinese do?
Chinese automaker sets sights on Jeep acquisition


DETROIT -- A Chinese automaker is "deeply interested" in buying Jeep, an iconic American brand, from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in a move that likely would face political opposition in the U.S. and create angst among workers.

Great Wall Motor told trade publication Automotive News it also has "indirectly expressed interest" in acquiring the brand known for its rugged, off-road vehicles.

The acknowledgment comes amid broader speculation that the brands once held by Chrysler as one of the Detroit Three automakers could end up with Chinese owners less than a decade after the company was bailed out by U.S. taxpayers.

It could also stir criticism over the U.S. economic relationship with China amid concerns about the balance of power in manufacturing and trade.

But Fiat Chrysler has been searching for a partner or buyer to enhance its chances of navigating a fiercely competitive global automotive industry in which major investments are required to meet fuel economy standards and develop self-driving vehicles.

A deal for Jeep would leave the future of several other Fiat Chrysler brands in limbo. While it would retain its popular, profitable Ram truck line, it would also have the far-less-lucrative Dodge and Chrysler lineups.

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/090210-wal-mart-may-sell-chinese-cars

But wait! It doesn't end there. Walmart and Costco want to sell Chinese built cars. :rolleyes:

"For years, we've been hearing that Chinese cars are on their way, and despite fair skepticism there have been in-roads. Chinese companies like Build Your Dreams have debuted plug-in vehicles at American auto shows, while the Mexican company GS Motors has imported Chinese cars to sell in Mexico. Now the industry must brace for the next big idea, which is to sell low-cost Chinese vehicles at big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco."

According to GS CEO Kathleen Ligocki, the company is already using the concept in Mexico. Hybridcars.com reports that the company sold 4,000 cars that way in Mexico in 2008. It's been successful enough to lead GS to build a factory to build the cars there. "GS Motors will launch the FAW brand in Mexico this year with the F1 Hatchback, an entry-level car sold for under $5,500."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/08/21/great-wall-motor-jeep-fiat-chrysler-automobiles/585225001/
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Hoofer

Have you ever seen one of these "off-road" Chinese vehicles?  They're off-road because they can't pass a safety test.


They are like... TOYS.

Seating Capacity: 2
Length: 180"
Width: 65"
Height: 75"
Bed Length: 108" (9 ft)
Bed Width: 60"
Bed Height: 14.5"
Wheelbase: 114"
Ground Clearance: 6"
Empty: 2360 lbs
Useful Load: 2100 lbs
Fuel Capacity: 10.5 gallons
Engine Displacement: 1.2 liters
Max power: 60 hp
Max Torque: 88 ft lbs
Transmission: 5 spd manual
Rear Axle Ratio: 5.29
Tire Size: 175/70R14

My 1969 VW was 65HP... for comparison.  Now does it make sense they're trying to steal American Innovation, again? 
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

Solar

Quote from: Hoofer on October 24, 2017, 04:20:46 PM
They're off-road because they can't pass a safety test.

Nor could they pass a Yugo with a flat tire. :lol:
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Hoofer

Quote from: Solar on October 24, 2017, 04:56:38 PM
Nor could they pass a Yugo with a flat tire. :lol:

With a rear axle ratio of 5.29, it probably sounds like a Singer Sewing machine screaming to get up to 30mph.
Oh, and if you want 4wd.... LOL, chain 2 of them together!
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

TboneAgain

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Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; IT IS FORCE. -- George Washington

Hoofer

Was at a site yesterday which had several of those Tiger Trucks & Vans.

The first thing you notice, when they say, 14" tires... they mean it.   It's a 4 bolt rim, like 6", and the tire is actually 14 inches in height, about 3" wide... like something off a wheelbarrow.
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

Solar

Quote from: Hoofer on October 26, 2017, 07:37:53 AM
Was at a site yesterday which had several of those Tiger Trucks & Vans.

The first thing you notice, when they say, 14" tires... they mean it.   It's a 4 bolt rim, like 6", and the tire is actually 14 inches in height, about 3" wide... like something off a wheelbarrow.
They remind me of a stripped down model of mt 1968 Datsun PU, so light I could actually pick it up in the rear and turn it around when I'd go out in the boonies.
But the bigger question here, is, why did our govt buy these pieces of shit in the first place?
They were auctioning them off, and from the looks of it, no one wanted to drive it, though, as the first car for a boy, this is perfect, if it breaks, he can do all the work himself because it's sooo damn basic.



http://www.govplanet.com/for-sale/Utility-Vehicles-Tiger-Truck-Utility-Vehicle-Virginia/1091082?h=5000%2Cm%7CTiger+Truck&rr=1&hitprm=&pnLink=yes
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Solar

Update: It's all over, Tiger is dead on the road.

The news release said Tiger creditors initiated the bankruptcy filing.

In June 2009, Tiger Truck snagged an $11 million General Services Administration contract to make 863 vehicles for the U.S. Air Force. Trucks and vans also were distributed through dealers in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean.

The company had a goal to produce 7,500 vehicles each year.

http://newsok.com/article/3502529
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Hoofer

See them at this one place, they have the little trucks, and a few of the vans.

IF.... and I mean IF I see 4 people with their heads half scrunched down, riding in a van, the little tires half deflated looking... I mean it looks like a little TOY van for 4 kids - they are really, really small & cramped looking.

And you're probably right, a guy could pick up the rear end and just turn the thing around, 180 degrees, or pull it out of a ditch with a western saddle on a pony...  Same rims, 4 little nuts, looks like something off a wheelbarrel.

One of my kids paid $900 for a Chinese scooter - left it outside, unchained, near the University she was attending.
It took a hurricane for it to disappear.   Someone tried to steal it, couldn't get it started and abandoned it against a tree, next to the woods behind her house.... gave up about 150'.  What a complete WASTE of materials!  I swear the engine looks like cast pot-metal.
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

TboneAgain

Quote from: Hoofer on October 24, 2017, 04:20:46 PM
Have you ever seen one of these "off-road" Chinese vehicles?  They're off-road because they can't pass a safety test.


They are like... TOYS.

Seating Capacity: 2
Length: 180"
Width: 65"
Height: 75"
Bed Length: 108" (9 ft)
Bed Width: 60"
Bed Height: 14.5"
Wheelbase: 114"
Ground Clearance: 6"
Empty: 2360 lbs
Useful Load: 2100 lbs
Fuel Capacity: 10.5 gallons
Engine Displacement: 1.2 liters
Max power: 60 hp
Max Torque: 88 ft lbs
Transmission: 5 spd manual
Rear Axle Ratio: 5.29
Tire Size: 175/70R14

My 1969 VW was 65HP... for comparison.  Now does it make sense they're trying to steal American Innovation, again?

Some of the early Japanese imports were pretty wimpy. I let my ex-MIL talk me into buying a 1972 Honda 600 sedan many years ago, a decision I was soon to regret. The 600 and the 360 were Honda's first imported cars in the US. The 600 looked like this...



Some specs....

Technical specifications AN600 (USA MODEL)
Front engine, front wheel drive, 4 passengers, 2 door sedan, monocoque body
Maximum Speed:   80 mp/h (Yeah, right. Maybe if you drove it off a cliff....)
Acceleration:   21.3 sec. SS 1/4 mile
Maximum horsepower:   36 SAE HP @ 6.000 rpm (Downrated from 45 HP due to EPA requirements -- smog pump, etc.)
Weight to power ratio:   36.7 lb per bhp SAE
Maximum torque:   31.8 lb-ft @4.000 rpm SAE
Fuel consumption:   31.6 mpg US gallon (I sometimes got over 50 if I had a good tailwind.)

Engine
Type: 4-stroke, aluminum overhead camshaft (OHC) parallel twin cylinder (Basically a vertical twin bike engine.)
Cooling system: Forced air by high efficiency axial flow, behind engine fan plus ram air
Bore and stroke:   74 x 69.6 mm (2.9 x 2.7 in)
Cylinder capacity:   598.4 cc (36.5 cu in) (Thus the Honda "600" designation.)
Compression ratio:   8.3 : 1
Carburetor:   Variable venturi with accelerator pump, electric fuel pump
Transmission: 4-speeds forward, 1 reverse, forward gears constant mesh
Clutch:   165 mm (6.5 in) diaphragm spring type, single dry plate

Dimensions
Overall length:   125 in
Overall width:   52.6 in
Overall height:   52.4 in
Wheelbase:   78.8 in
Curb weight:   1,356 lb (143 lb. heavier than Japanese version due to EPA and NHTSA requirements. See below.)
Fuel tank capacity:   6.9 US gallon
Oil Capacity:   3.2 US qt
Tire size:   145 SR 10 inch (That's right -- 10-inch tires on 10-inch rims.)
Steering:   Rack and pinion
Suspension front:   Independent strut type, coil springs
Suspension rear:   Semi-elliptic leaf springs
Brakes:   Hydraulic, disc brakes front, drum brakes rear

Other differences between the N600 and AN600 (USA MODEL) are:
Head restraints on front seats
Additional chrome bars left and right on front and rear bumpers
Extra direction indicator on the side fenders front and at the rear just above the bumper.
*****************************

This car broke down on me more times than I could count. Once it died out in the boonies and my dad came to get me in his 1969 Chevy C10 pickup, just a standard half-ton 2WD truck. Using the truck scale ramp at a nearby feed mill, we managed to literally push the car into the bed of the truck. The front tires squeaked a bit between the wheel wells, but it fit. We threw a log chain around the ass end of the car and drove home like that. Dad said it wasn't any worse than bringing sacks of ground corn feed back from our local elevator. When we got home, I chained the car to a tree stump and Dad drove the truck out from under it. What was wrong with the car that time, you ask? This engine had a distributor, but the distributor cam was not part of the shaft. Instead it slipped onto the shaft and was secured by a tiny metal pin. That pin had fallen out, allowing the distributor shaft to spin uselessly inside the cam. I never found that pin; instead of ordering one, I just made one out a piece of a finish nail.

The car finally died in my dad's driveway. I tried to start it and the timing chain jumped a sprocket tooth or two. The pistons smashed into the exhaust valves and bent the valve shafts. I just pushed the car into the grass alongside the driveway and that's where it was when a guy who owned a local body shop came to buy it. He told me he had two others just like it, but mine had nice sheet metal, so he intended to put the guts from the other two into the body of mine. I don't know how that project turned out. I did know that I was sick to death of pouring money and labor into that little "economy" car.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. -- Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; IT IS FORCE. -- George Washington

Hoofer

My second car, Wifey and I LOVED it... drove it until it was so rusted out, no floor left (plywood), the doors had to be lifted to latch shut.



It was light, fast, sounded really great, handled like a sports car should.  A no frills little Japanese hot rod.  Everyone wanted to ride in it, top down, summer sun, deep throaty sound from those dual side draft carbs & headers/tuned exhaust.   a real bonus, it was really comfortable to drive, without alot of crap in your way, or cluttering up the driver's space.

Then there was this Fiat X1/9


a little more uncomfortable to drive on a trip, but it epitomized our early marriage (before kids).   Top off, screaming down the interstates in this little car that could fit under a semi-truck's trailer.  Just a wee-bit under-powered, but handled beautifully on the curvy hills and valleys of the boonies.  :biggrin:

Back then, we could fill the tank with gas for $3, drive around till the gas gauge was at 1/2 full, pull out a map, figure out where we were,  and head home.   Just cruising around, listening to the radio, jawing away, maybe stopping to check out the stars on some hilltop, and race down another hill... not a care in the world.  :biggrin:
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...