Vehicles like the new Haval Jolion are turning the tide for Chinese vehicles. Picture: SUPPLIEDWhether it is the satisfying thud of the door closing on a Volkswagen from Wolfsburg, or the beauty of a Ferrari from Modena, these brands are iconic — and very lucrative for their manufacturers. When we think of reliability, the Germans, and latterly the Japanese, have had it sewn up.
Each continent has added its own flavour along the way, from innovation in safety in Europe, to volume production in the US, to lean manufacturing in Japan. It was Toyota’s manufacturing systems that saved German-owned Porsche when it was facing dire business conditions in the 1990s, for instance. Vehicle quality is both about simple reliability and also what we would describe as build quality: how well the vehicle is finished, the uniformity of the paint finish, how well the different panels on the body align, and even — as Volkswagen made famous — the sound the doors make when they close.
China is also well placed to build cars for the right price. It still pays relatively low wages and has millions of skilled workers steeped in the nation’s strong manufacturing culture. Skilled workers are vital to reducing automotive costs because they make vehicles that need fewer adjustments or rebuilds.
Admittedly, some Chinese vehicles in the past decade have not had the design or performance expected by western buyers, so have not sold in enough volumes in Europe to worry the establishment. Polestar and Tesla both have very modern factories and are fully electric. Both are designed in the West, as is BMW’s iX3, another fully electric SUV built in China for export back to Europe. Like Polestar and Tesla, the iX3 is taking advantage of China’s supply chain in EV batteries, among other things.
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