What would happen if Detroit sold over a million cars and trucks a month? Ah, this is not Fantasyland, so don't bother putting on your 3-D glasses.
I am talking about China. In 2009, 13.7 million new cars and trucks were sold there. Ten million were sold here, many of them not American or made in America by Toyota, Honda, and other foreign companies, like Mitsubishi, who bombed shut the entrance to a gold mine in the waning days of WWII, dooming hundreds of American, British, and Australian POWs to hide evidence of their violation of the Geneva Convention.
China was on our side in WW2, and they still are. If they weren't, they would demand all the money they loaned us back and we'd be cooking Rover for dinner.
In 2020, there will be 300 million cars and trucks in China. Our current population is estimated at 307 million in the USA.
There are a lot of car companies in China, but the three biggest ones are Chery, SAIC, and BYD Auto. Warren Buffett bought into BYD and their stock went up like Balloon Boy. He also owns Geico. Well, his company Berkshire Hathaway does. They also own some of Wal-Mart, which, as you know, seems to sell only stuff made in China.
But, speaking of BYD, short for "Build Your Dreams," they plan to launch their pure electric car, the e6, later this year right here in the USA. It seats five and goes 300 kilometers on a single charge. It takes ten minutes for a half charge, and an hour for a full charge.
BYD is a global battery-making leader. It is the #2 cellphone battery maker in the world. They are based in Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, in a small village turned into a city of over 8 million in the blink of an eye. Another million will be added before you can say "Dalai Lama."
BYD also makes an electric bus called the e-bus. It's motor is in the wheels. Move over VW. Welcome to "Chinese engineering!"
Paul Lin, Global Marketing Manager of BYD Auto, addressed the media and a slew of automotive industry folks at China Business Update and China Automotive Review's third annual half-day seminar at the Detroit Auto Show, fashionably dubbed the North American International Auto Show, for fear of scaring the bejesus out of people who only hear about the murders, carjackings and gangs roaming wild in the streets of Motown. Whatever gave them that idea? They must watch the news or something....
