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Originally Posted by SeanWRT
I'm kinda surprised how Americans interpret this and think all about the threat the rest of the world poses and look only at bad side of them.
It's really not that complicated - Beijing put a 50% maximum share restriction for foreign automaker in domestic market and now lifts it to promote investment and technology. BMW sees the benefit and wants to increase the share of the BMW-Brilliance as a highly profitable joint venture. BMW group even threatened to work with another Chinese company if Brilliance do not agree to sale of its share. The same drama is happening with VW/Audi and its Chinese local partner.
The impact on USA or the rest of the world? Minimal. Because imported cars in China are too insignificant. Plus Chinese have a very firm belief that the best cars are made in Europe. The most that get imported has a price tag starting from 500k rmb (73k USD). For example, M3 msrp is one million rmb (147k USD). These cars are for the top 0.01% richest, accounting for next to nothing in term of total sales.
BMW-Brilliance already produced SUVs, the long wheel base version of the new X1. And that is a heck of car, selling like hot cakes, it's literally bigger and more practical than old X3. That long wheel base X1 (44~66k usd) is the BMW SUV that gets sold in China. It's not made in USA either or not BMW holds 75% of BMW-Brilliance.
Will BMW make X5 in China? Let us Chinese worry about it. X5 starts from 750k rmb or 110k usd. Not many of them get sold actually. Even if they do get made in China, the sales are too small to have an impact on Carolina plant. And most of us only pay 500+k rmb for something that is not made in China.
BMW is not making M car and 7 series in China and ship them to USA. It'd lose them the entire global market. You guys easy. Not a single one of us agrees with that either.
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Also to add, we're talking about 2 countries consumers with 2 different tastes in cars. I don't see the X5/6/7 cars getting popular in China. And this is why a Chinese factory has minimum impact in the near future. Chinese just buys different types of cars.
When I was in China back in 2007, I went to an auto show and asked a Chevy dealer rep whether he sells Corvettes. Puzzled look, scrambles to the back, consults with others and then comes back and tell me "special order". Until I mentioned it, he himself has never even heard of the car, let alone if I mentioned the Yukon