And, a recent tour of one of the Asian powerhouse’s vehicle plants has proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least to Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
“We have no chance against this,” Mibe said upon a visit to a Shanghai parts factory, commenting on its seamless automation across all levels of production. Logistics, procurement and all aspects of the process were so automated, in fact, that he did not spot a single human worker on the supplier’s floor.
Ford executives saying even three years ago that China was way ahead of the game
Toyota’s CEO has likewise said regarding not just his company, but the industry in general, “unless things change, we will not survive”
Okay, so you’re getting out-competed in the market. Pay proper wages, invest in innovation instead of executive salaries, and take a slimmer profit margin to help your customers.
It is way bigger than that.
The traditional model of manufacturing has been multiplied by 10, “traditional” auto makers will not be able to afford retooling to even produce anything close to the volume of byd and their ilk.
Did you not read the story? The reason why they can’t compete is because China has NO wages to pay. Their plants are fully automated.
Paying proper wages would make Toyota and Honda even LESS competitive.
There is no such thing as total automation, there are always people keeping the machines in order. Even then, it’s a skill issue on Toyota and Honda’s part. Labor will reorganize like it always does, and it’s not like any of these companies care more than they have to about labor.
The primary advantage China had was government subsidies prioritizing long term more than the private investors could. In theory the private investors could make most of the same decisions an industrial capitalist state can, but they are too self interested for that collective action. They don’t care about helping any individual state, their money moves freely across the globe, and they are only in it for themselves.
It’s a race to the bottom. But at this point, why even try to stop it?
The trouble is the opposition is subsidised so they can pretty much run negative margins and still turn a profit.
Paying proper wages is the opposite of what would help here.
All auto makers are heavily subsidized, US automakers most of all.
I don’t think Ford’s getting paid a 5 digit sum to sell me a Mondeo lol, not that they even make those anymore.