Less expensive cars made in China are edging their way into the European car market.
From the International Herald Tribune:
Paradoxically, the Chinese have been helped in Europe by their alliances with Western automakers in China. Some of the Chinese cars being imported to Europe use electrical components from Bosch, the big German auto parts supplier, or have been designed by Italian firms like Giugiaro. Now the Europeans are seeing their ideas and components flow back into their own market.And at a time when the euro is strong against the dollar, the appeal is even greater: European car dealers pay in dollars for the Chinese cars, yet are paid in euros when the cars are sold here, pocketing a nifty profit on the exchange rate. “The game the Japanese mastered in 15 years, and the Koreans in 10, they will do in 18 months to 5 years,” Nigel Griffiths, director of European light vehicle forecasting at Global Insight, said of the Chinese. [Full Text]
