Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Car companies we don't see at home (aka: the Chinese are coming!)

Jonathan is obsessed right now with making enough money one day to purchase a BMW.  Meanwhile, he is learning about other options and is obsessed with knowing all of the brands that we see here.  Unfortunately, many of them are not known to me and Rob.  I have been jotting down the names and logos and then trying to figure them out on-line.  Some of the "new" ones we have been introduced to are:

1.  Lifan (Chinese): Started in 2005 and now sell in 51 countries but not the US.




2.  JAC (Chinese):  Selling cars since 2007 but we mostly see small vans.



3.  ZXAuto (Chinese):  SUVs and pick-up trucks.  Piece of trivia from Wikipedia - Pickup trucks produced by Zxauto were widely used in the 2011 Libyan civil war by both the government and rebel forces.



4.  BYD  (Chinese):  The sixth largest Chinese car manufacturer. They are also a big player in electric cars.

BYD Company logo.png

5.  Great Wall (Chinese - duh).  Mostly known for SUVs (to tackle the Great Wall?  Yikes!)




6.  Changan (Chinese):  The fourth largest auto manufacturer in China.



7.  DongFeng (Chinese) - One of the "big four" Chinese companies.  We actually just saw these in the south of Chile.  They are a big player in hybrid vehicles.




8.  Tianjin FAW (Chinese) - We only saw these in Uruguay.  Looks like they do a lot with Toyota.



9.  Renault-Samsung (South Korean): Who knew they made cars too? There are a lot of SM3 cars here but I don't think that I have seen them in the States although South Korea definitely sells cars there (Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo?).


Logo-renault samsung.jpg




10.  SsangYong (South Korean): Apparently, they are gearing up for US sales in a few years.


Ssang Yong logo.jpg


11.  SKODA (Czech Republic):   Been around forever and now part of the Volkswagen Group. Are these seen in the States?



The Chinese have 12.7% of the Chilean market (after the US) perhaps due to their free-trade agreement.  My question is when, and if, the United States will allow the import of Chinese vehicles.   It sounds like for now it is a question of safety and emissions standards.  Thoughts from my China-expert friends out there?

When the deluge occurs you can say you first heard of them here ;-)



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  1. Tammy E BurnsMarch 14, 2012 at 8:26 PM

    Hi Nerenbergs,

    You do see occassional Skodas here, but pretty rare. And, to be honest, the chinese try NOT to drive chinese cars - at least that is what we were told. Buicks, and german cars seemed prefered. Did see some Sangyongs... I can understand Peru having a lot of Chinese cars, so maybe there is an influence?

    I do have some questions for you, Sarah. The crocuses, scillas and other early flowers are just starting to bloom - are you noticing any changes for the coming fall? Were the kids happy to be going back to school? Can you see the stars in Santiago, and what constellations that we are familiar with are visible? What about plant species? I was fascinated by how many plants that were Native to china or garden exotics here. I am also wondering how Rob's work is going - has he been working the whole time? And the international program?

    Peter's students/postdocs put together a map of all the places they have come from, or lectured at and there is a big hole in the Southern Hemisphere. This makes me ask about the state of universities and science down where you are. And what about the schools? In England there was a huge push to excel for A levels at the high school level, and I know that for some kids there is the same push in the U.S. to get into the "right" college. Neither Peter nor I felt the same pressure in high school, but I think the university courses were a lot harder in Canada than either country; pressure is on once you enter university, not before. And in Chile?

    Cheerio, Tammy

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