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”
I genuinely think there will be a few major auto manufacturers who don’t survive the EV transition. Either they will go bankrupt altogether, or be bought out by other, more competent manufacturers.
That’s been going on for a while already. Stellantis was founded only a few years ago and they already have a ton of different brands in their pockets. Obviously PSA and FCA already had a ton of those brands before merging, but similar merges have been happening for decades, for example GM has been gathering different brands since 1920s.
That’s exactly China’s goal. Put everyone else out of business and then leverage the hell out of their position as the only automaker left standing in the world like the Walmart or Amazon of cars.
Why would anyone want to buy out Stellantis? Or GM?
What is worth salvaging?
Stellantis in particular has some brands that deserve a decent vehicle to put their badge on.
Gm to a lesser extent.