Li Shufu: not long for GM, Ford to file for bankruptcy

Li Shufu, founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is famous for his hyperboles and straightforwardness.

"A car is nothing but four wheels plus two couches," people take delight in talking about this words when speaking of Li Shufu, who intended to mean that making cars are not as difficult as people think with his unique exaggerating way.

"I'm not kidding for having no idea of automobiles, but because after in-depth research on the automotive products, I made a conclusion that the global auto industry will go modular production and platformization production," said Li at the ongoing 2009 Shanghai auto show. "The so-called modular production, say, is like piling up toy bricks. With the same auto parts but different assembling and design, the finalized car models will be different," he explained.

The guy also acts like a fortune teller, who forecasted that GM and Ford would file for bankruptcy within ten years at an auto industry summit held early in 2001. It is said a Ford person, sitting under the platform then, got off immediately, dropping off one word," Mr Li said our company is going bankrupt, and I'm looking for a new job now."

Li said looking from the change of global industry setup over 100 years, the auto industry is also undergoing shifts in manufacturing and market centre. "The GM and Ford is facing bankruptcy, and it will not be long. It's inevitable if counting all factors caused by China joining the WTO, he claimed.