Remember the days when Americans were trying to pronounce the name "Toyota" and Americans were trying to figure out how to say the name of "Datsun" properly?
Well, here we go again. But this time the names are of Chinese automakers like Chery, Geely, SAIC, Hover, and Roewe.
Expect to see their cars in western countries like ours in the not-to-distant future. Figures show that in 2006, Chinese auto manufacturers exported about 325,000 vehicles with around eighty percent heading out to emerging markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
And don't think they're not doing well at home, either. Sales of domestically-made cars are soaring in China. There has been a ten times jump in sales of cars in China just in the last 10 years.
This includes foreign automakers like Audi and General Motors based in China. In fact, GM has become the market leader in China with GM sales last year alone rising 32 percent. (Pictured is the new Buick Park Avenue which is only sold in China.)
And Ford is on that wave, too. Unlike the North American market, its sales have jumped 87 percent in China.
The Chinese market is expected to continue to grow. The country is now ranked second to the United States in sales of vehicles with 7.2 million units sold just in 2006.
Our take? What makes you think that these guys are not targeting the United States?