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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / August 2005Chinese cars to hit U.S. shores (from the guy that brought us the Yugo)
In the middle of the Chinese rotor debate I stumbled across this: ---------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Vlasic / Detroit News First Chinese cars to hit U.S. shores Malcolm Bricklin, the man behind the Yugo, to lead new import wave in 2007. NEW YORK -- A newlyformed company led by auto entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin and the investment banking firm Allen & Co. has signed the first-ever deal to import cars made in China for sale in the United States. Bricklin, known best for bringing the ultra-cheap Yugo car to the U.S. market in the 1980s, is expected to announce the agreement today between New York-based Visionary Vehicles LLC and Chery Automobile Co., one of the fastest- growing players in the fledgling Chinese auto industry. The deal to import up to 250,000 Chinese-made cars annually beginning in 2007 was finalized Dec. 16 at Chery's corporate headquarters in Anhui Province in eastern China, Bricklin told The Detroit News in an interview. Some group, I believe in Houston, also announced plans recently to import Chinese vehicles into the USA. Article was in the Houston Chronicle some time ago, but I have heard no followup. Should be interesting. > In the middle of the Chinese rotor debate I stumbled > across this: [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > corporate headquarters in Anhui Province in eastern China, > Bricklin told The Detroit News in an interview. Wonder how much a knock-off of a new Corvette would cost? s > Wonder how much a knock-off of a new Corvette would cost Malcolm Bricklin selling a fiberglas sports car... whoa, there's a flashback... --Joe > > Wonder how much a knock-off of a new Corvette would cost > > Malcolm Bricklin selling a fiberglas sports car... whoa, there's a > flashback... > > --Joe I wonder if it would be possible to manufacture a reasonably priced (fibreglass, maybe) car, cobbled up from some of the better components around from the major producers? Fitted to a sturdy chassis frame with strong and accurate suspension. Shooting for attractive, economical, and long lasting...minimizing microprocessors and using robust electrical systems. Air conditioning systems that dont rot out, and with compressors built to last... maybe even using R13 as a refrigerant ;>) They still need to meet emissions and safety standard so that is a limiting factor. I'd like to see them put the price squeeze on the Big Three though. Cars have been overpriced for too long. Let the usual lackeys flame in now and chide me for not being a homeboy. > > > Wonder how much a knock-off of a new Corvette would cost > > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > last... > maybe even using R13 as a refrigerant ;>) Sounds great to us, as owners. But what about the companies' $-health which relies on designed obsolescence? s >In the middle of the Chinese rotor debate I stumbled >across this: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >First Chinese cars to hit U.S. shores And the already have their "Wal-Mart dealear network" in place with fully unfuctional service departments! Steve B. I fear the Chery might be much better quality than some expect... Professor www.telstar-electronics.com > In the middle of the Chinese rotor debate I stumbled > across this: [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Bricklin, known best for bringing the ultra-cheap Yugo car > to the U.S. market in the 1980s, is expected to announce The Yugo was made in Yugoslavia which disintigrated into civil war in the 1990's. Any connection? Should someone inform the Chinese? > the agreement today between New York-based Visionary > Vehicles LLC and Chery Automobile Co., one of the fastest- [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > corporate headquarters in Anhui Province in eastern China, > Bricklin told The Detroit News in an interview. Let's see if I've go this right, they'll be sold by WalMart in the US as "Bricklin's" to demonstrate the Chinese can make cars with as few problems as the Big Three. I don't know. I bought tires at WalMart and they've lasted really well. Maybe Malcolm B has some drug debt left over from one of his previous autombile enterprises to pay off. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned > Maybe Malcolm B has some drug debt left over from one of his previous > autombile enterprises to pay off. > > -- Im going to have to research this one. Certainly remember the Bricklin. John DeLorean also had some involvement with powdery finance schemes. The Yugo was designed by Fiat,the factory was built by Fiat and they made the yugoslavs an offer they couldn't refuse.The Yugos that made it to the US were built by the best workers at the factory.They did not want to get a bad quality reputation on the first cars into this country.At the time I was looking for a new cheap car and bought a Hyundai for $3800 instead of the Yugo.Still got it and so far it has given good service with no breakdowns. > The Yugo was designed by Fiat,the factory was built by Fiat and they > made the yugoslavs an offer they couldn't refuse. I don't know whether Fiat designed the cars for them or whether they just licensed an old fiat design and repeated it over and over. I think it is the latter. > The Yugos that made it to the US were built by the best workers at the > factory.They did not want to get a bad quality reputation on the first > cars into this country. Those workers you are referring to must have been on extended summer holiday when the cars destined for the U.S. market were assembled. Actually the Yugo cars that made it into this country were of very poor quality and based on an old Fiat design. The factory had serious QC problems. The cars did poorly in crash tests and insurance companies upped their rates and Consumer Reports eviscerated the Yugo in a review. The importer (Bricklin was involved here) was establishing a dealer network and parts availability was spotty at best for cars that had a habit of breaking down. The US importer went belly-up in a couple of years after new car sales evaporated, leaving owners of those troublesome cars high and dry. To make things worse the parent company went bust a few years later, probably in part due to the unstable political situation in that region. The parent company has since reorganized and is producing cars again in europe under a couple of different names. I would have serious reservations about buying Chinese cars that Bricklin had a significant involvement in. I would be very concerned about his willingness to stay financially involved long enough to establish a permanent dealer and parts supply network and be around to honor the warranty. > At the time I was looking for a new cheap > car and bought a Hyundai for $3800 instead of the Yugo.Still got it > and so far it has given good service with no breakdowns. You made a good choice. Believe it or not, I saw a Yugo, still running strong, not so long ago. I had my Dodge van bought new in '75 for $2750.That was the first year of Chrysler giving rebates,mine was $250.I had it for 29 years,my criteria on keeping a vehicle is if I put the key in and it gets me to my destination we're gold.The day this didn't happen it went to the auto boneyard. > Believe it or not, I saw a Yugo, still running strong, not so long ago. Admittedly, it's a small niche, but the way to survive with a Yugo and perhaps the Cherry is to buy several parts donors when the price is cheap and they are still available. What I was trying to say was the Yugos that came here were the cream of the crop.They were still junk.Fiat had a similar deal previously with the Lada in Russia.The Lada was not state of the art,the Russians were looking for a simple and reliable vehicle which Fiat designed.The clincher on both countries was the financing arrangements offered by Fiat.No other car outfit had so liberal terms as Fiat.I believe they took a bath on both. > What I was trying to say was the Yugos that came here were the cream of > the crop. > But they were not the cream of any crop - they were poor quality. I agree with you here. They were still junk.Fiat had a similar deal previously with > the Lada in Russia.The Lada was not state of the art,the Russians were > looking for a simple and reliable vehicle which Fiat designed.The > clincher on both countries was the financing arrangements offered by > Fiat.No other car outfit had so liberal terms as Fiat.I believe they > took a bath on both. This could very well be. The car was still inappropriately designed for the US market and was of appallingly low quality. Add to that the involvement of an importer who did not have the will to stay to correct the problems and make Yugo owners whole again and the result is that the names Yugo and Bricklin have left a very bad taste. Acording to Phil Edmunston in the Lemon-Aid car buyer's guide Malcolm Brickln arranged to import the Subaru Justy in the 1960's. Another one of his automotive endevours. He does seem to be persistent. Maybe this time he'll have a winner. :) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned > Acording to Phil Edmunston in the Lemon-Aid car buyer's guide Malcolm > Brickln arranged to import the Subaru Justy in the 1960's. The Justy was a model of the '80s and '90s. The Subaru that Bricklin imported in the 1960s was the Subaru 360, a grossly unsafe, grossly polluting car considerably smaller than a VW Beetle. The Subaru was the 360 model,I looked at one in '68.There is a picture out there somewhere when they couldn't pass some type of gov.test and they weren't allowed to unload the ship.Instead of stripping the cars to salvage parts they were shredded whole and put back on a ship to Japan.There were buyers on the dock pleading to buy some to no avail to add irony to the story and picture. > The Subaru was the 360 model,I looked at one in '68.There is a picture > out there somewhere when they couldn't pass some type of gov.test and > they weren't allowed to unload the ship.Instead of stripping the cars to > salvage parts they were shredded whole and put back on a ship to > Japan.There were buyers on the dock pleading to buy some A fun yarn, to be sure. The 360 *was* imported; it *was* exempted from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards because of its light weight and small size (such an exemption was on the books at the time), and there was nobody but *nobody* pleading to buy it, on the docks or anywhere else. > The Subaru was the 360 model,I looked at one in '68. ... A friend of mine has a 1970 Subaru 360. It still runs just fine. These cars were exempt from safety and emission standards at the time due to loopholes that existed for very lightweight vehicles with tiny engines.  SignatureRoger Blake (Subtract 10 for email.) > > The Subaru was the 360 model,I looked at one in '68. ... > > A friend of mine has a 1970 Subaru 360. It still runs just fine. > These cars were exempt from safety and emission standards at the > time due to loopholes that existed for very lightweight vehicles > with tiny engines. The Subaru 360 was unfortunately another of the Bricklin schemes. He has a long record of importing or otherwise sponsoring relatively unkown cars and hyping them with a lot of advertising but not supporting them with enough cash nor staying around long enough to truly build a permanent dealer network. When the inevitable problems begin Bricklin just disappears. In this case he imported the Subaru 360 directly, which meant that Subaru and the parent Fuji had no responsibility for the seriously underpowered microcar. At $1,300 it was actually somewhat pricey because a much bigger and more powerful Toyota Corona could be had for $1,700. Sales flopped as people discovered the car was no match for the California highways and parts were (familiar story!) hard to come by. Dealers resorted to selling them in groups for very low prices. The west coast banks (Wells Fargo and Bank of California) that financed him ended up reposessing many of the cars and actually trying to sell Subaru 360's from bank branch lobbies. Reminds me of the Fiat f1/9 which was relabeled and imported as a 'Bertone\. I stopped by a dealership in Houston and asked about 'the Fiat' and was told by a snobby little prick in a lavender shirt that it was NOT a Fiat, it was a Bertone. What is in a name?...a rose by any name would smell as sweet. But give us a break, guys. Some of these imports SMELL like dirty feet. > Reminds me of the Fiat f1/9 which was relabeled and imported as a 'Bertone\. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > What is in a name?...a rose by any name would smell as sweet. > But give us a break, guys. Some of these imports SMELL like dirty feet. Yes, there have been several examples of cars imprted directly into the U.S. without benefit of a warranty that involves the manufacturer. I think such an arrangement is smelly because the importer capitalizes on the name of the manufacturer but not the financial backing. Other examples include many of the micro-cars that were in such wide use in europe during the 1950's. Many were brought into the U.S. with no involvement of the manufacturer so the warranty was at the discretion of the importer. It's interesting that the importer of the Subaru 360 waited over 10 years after the microcar craze had petered out in the U.S. before trying to sell such a car in the U.S. again. The 360, like it's european cousins the Isetta and Heinkel, Lloyd, etc., were cars designed as cheap transportation in urban environments where people didn't drive great distances or at great speed. They were not appropriate for the relatively wide open spaces found in the U.S. The less than sound history of direct imports makes me wonder about the viability of the plan to directly import the Smart car into the U.S. The dealer network appears to be very thin and the cars will not have any ties to the manufacturer Mercedes Benz. And like the 360 it will be relatively pricey and undersized when alternatives from Toyta, Nissan and Hyundai are considered. You brought up Isetta,do you remember the Gogomobile from the same time period.These were the cars tv's Concentration gave as prizes but they never showed one.I think the Isetta and Gogomobile were both made by BMW.One last question for the older tv viewer,what was the car make that the tv Boston Blackie drove in the '51-53 series?Been trying to find someone who remembers. > You brought up Isetta,do you remember the Gogomobile from the same time > period.These were the cars tv's Concentration gave as prizes but they > never showed one.I think the Isetta and Gogomobile were both made by > BMW. Sure, I remember the Goggomobil...it was actually made by Glas. Quite popular and pretty good looking. I picked up an interesting book on Ebay called Kleinwagen by Tashcen. Full of pictures and history about the microcars of the 1950's and 1960's. If you enjoy automotive trivia (as I do) this guy has an amazing museum in atlanta devoted to those mini cars: http://www.microcarmuseum.com/ One last question for the older tv viewer,what was the car make that > the tv Boston Blackie drove in the '51-53 series?Been trying to find > someone who remembers. Don't know that one. At the time I was more into Hopalong Cassidy and Space Patrol!! First time I have seen a Gogo with a decent sized photo to make out detail.Thanks. >Reminds me of the Fiat f1/9 which was relabeled and imported as a 'Bertone\. That would be an X1/9. Neat little car. I owned 2 in the past. >I stopped by a dealership in Houston and asked about 'the Fiat' and was told >by a snobby little prick in a lavender shirt that it was NOT a Fiat, it was a >Bertone. That's a salesman for you. >What is in a name?...a rose by any name would smell as sweet. >But give us a break, guys. Some of these imports SMELL like dirty feet. It's too bad because if the X1/9 had been brought up to date, it would have been a neat car. Even with 'outdated' technology it was a fun car, if underpowered. ----------- Alex |
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