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Xiaomi Has a Luxury SUV for $31,000 That All Western Brands Should Fear (www.wired.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 49 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (42 children)

Chinese cars are heavily subsidized by the state. The reason they're so cheap is because China bets it can squeeze the competition out of the market before charging basically whatever they want.

I've seen Starbucks do the same thing to independent coffee shops.

Edit: This is a post about real car companies like Nissan, Volvo, Mercedes, Renault, whatever. I don't care about America. Nobody has for decades.

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  • [–] 67 points 1 week ago (24 children)

    Oh yeah, because US car companies are NOT subsidized at all /s

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  • [–] 25 points 1 week ago

    Both statements can be true at the same time. But the scale of one is many times larger.

    China’s MO from rare earths and magnets to cars to silicon follows the same plan. Take IP, Subsidize the industry, Research, once you have a monopoly use it to squeeze adversaries.

    I will say at least China is willing to kill off underperforming companies.

    The US needs to let a lot of legacy companies that aren’t performing die off. It also needs to break up oligopolies in many industries. Why compete when you can buy up the future competitors and set prices with a handful of competitors. The financialization of our economy is choking us.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago (22 children)

    Sure, but try launching a new auto startup here. It's a lot harder than in China.

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  • [+] -18 points 1 week ago (21 children)

    Wrong. US manufacturers have effectively been shut out of China. But not before they made investments that China basically stole.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 week ago (17 children)

    Who would want a US made car?

    Even Americans don't want them.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 week ago* (11 children)

    I worked in the government for a bit, national park service if it matters, we were only allowed to use US made vehicles.

    Constant recalls, constant breakdowns, overall unreliable. These were all vehicles that were less than 5 years okd

    I have a 2007 toyota today that refuses to die and has barely needed any work. I'll probably have it at least another 3 to 5 years at this rate.

    American cars are shit

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    American capitalism has rendered companies incapable of producing anything that's not crap at a scale because they need to maximise profit at all costs, while quality doesn't mean shit. Every company is Boeing.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago

    Worked at an oil refinery in the US. All the company cars were Ford. They all had various issues such as lights not working, the reverse beeper not working, constant engine light. We would get a loaner ford to replace our fleet ford and the loaner would fucking die. It would be comical if it wasn't my safety being jeopardized.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (8 children)

    It's very possible your Toyota was made in the US.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    Except for the design and almost all the parts. Probably was assembled here

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (3 children)

    Many GM and Ford parts are made outside of the US. Possibly only the design and headquarters really separates them. It's a global supply chain for all companies.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (2 children)

    But Ford is responsible for bad designs like EcoBoost and trucks with plastic oil pans. Peek under a Bronco, many of the steel parts aren't even painted and body seams are not sealed. Peak 1970s manufacturing.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Plastic oil pans save weight, who even uses metal anymore?

    The only time I ever got a hole in an oil pan was a metal one and it was my ex who somehow hit a rock and hid it from me. The one car I had with a plastic pan never had any issues, but it also had a skid plate that makes a larger difference than the material of the oil pan itself, since loose debris would just bounce off. Plus the skid plate helps reduce wind resistance so it's a necessity in this day and age anyway.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Where car is made is irrelevant. How it is designed and engineered matters. Toyotas made in North America outlast anything designed in Detroit.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    My point is that there's really not much difference now. I'm betting many car manufacturers are starting to have AI design some parts. So where something is designed matters a lot less.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 week ago

    Your point doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Different companies have different approaches to engineering and quality control, and it absolutely makes a massive difference for how long their products last. This is very obvious in the car market.

    ML will likely play a massive role for engineering going forward, but again, it's up to each company or organization to decide how to use it. I wouldn't be surprised at all if some companies try to have LLMs weigh in on engineering matters, where they shouldn't. AI will amplify bad engineering.

    But responsible companies will make proper use of ML and their cars will be better for it.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Depends on what you mean by American. Most assume you are referring to Ford or GM. But Tesla and Rivian are US made. Many are built in the States by non US companies. BMW, Volvo, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    Tesla is a toxic brand due to Elon.

    I love the idea of Rivian but they don't want to sell in Australia and the R1/R2 have too steep/bulldozer blade of a front to sell in EU (no pedestrian rollup protection)

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (2 children)

    effectively been shut out of China.

    Because Chinese won't buy massive thirsty trucks. Wtf...Tesla was in China before they even started making EVs.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago*

    There's a lot of protectionism going on in China, most western manufacturers aren't allowed to sell their own cars without a Chinese company owning the majority of the partnership. Most countries don't really have rules like that, China is kinda unique.

    The Chinese actually LOVE big cars. Every other European manufacturer makes long wheelbase versions of their midrange sedans for China exclusively. Space in the back is a status symbol more than comfort up front apparently. And there are a ton of big Chinese crossovers out now. I won't call them SUVs because they're not really off road capable, much like most western "SUVs" aren't these days.

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  • [–] 47 points 1 week ago (8 children)

    And yet even at 2-3x the price, the Chinese EVs provide a better value than the handful of the American options they would compete against.

    This SUV would be competing with the likes of a high end EV option like Lucid or Tesla. The Lucid Gravity starts a around $70k, and the Tesla Model X (now discontinued) was around $92k.

    The Xiaomi SU7 (the car the Ford CEO has driven since 2024, despite being banned in the US) starts at $32k and clearly is targeted to compete the Porsche Taycan at $112k.

    The vehicle in this article has heated floors, a projector, a pop-up roof, a fridge, swiveling seats, and over 1,000 miles of range. Functions western companies consider "luxury" are basically just standard in the Chinese market like heated and ventilated seats. They don't even bother to advertise things like that because it's a minimum expectation. There are zero western options that come close to something like that. The options available in the US suck, even taking industry subsidies into account.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    heated floors, a projector, a pop-up roof, a fridge, swiveling seats,

    Never have I once thought I needed any of that bullshit.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    And yet there it is, along with basically every other "luxury" feature western companies save for high end models... all for the price of a base model SUV here.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Those aren't luxury car features (minus the fridge), those are camper van features lol

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    The point is that what western car companies consider "luxury" features they charge extra for, like heated seats and that sort of thing, are basically standard there. So the luxury features they include to separate these models from the pack are these more niche things.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    High-end EV options

    Ok

    like Tesla

    ...fucking WHAT?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (1 child)

    I see you forget about the first 3 models that Tesla made that were $70k or higher when they were discontinued, and all launched at $90k+

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  • [–] 8 points 1 week ago

    They were only high-end EVs because the EV market was dogshit then. They've never competed with high-end cars in general.

    Unfortunately it's a race to the bottom and high-end cars are doing the same Tesla bullshit of a minimalist interior with a huge display instead of physical buttons with heft like they used to.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    Chinese cars are heavily subsidized by the state

    Detroit has received $88B in subsidies and loans since 2008. That's why we have so many cheap EV options?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Heavily subsidized by misery, as well.

    Detroit pays union wages and has to respect worker rights (at the top end of the supply chain). The “communist “ state seems to escape these limited obligations in big parts of their supply chains.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Workers in Detroit might get paid union wages, but many auto factories have relocated to the South where they can underpay and abuse workers much more easily. I just did some quick googling and it seems like being a factory worker in China isn't bad compared to in the US. They work in highly automated, clean, air-conditioned spaces like would be found here. Dirty conditions and manual labor are no longer compatible with today's automotive quality requirements. Low level workers make modest wages, but they employ a bunch of engineers and technicians just like here in the US, and they have subsidized cafeterias and some provide housing or stipends for housing. You might criticize the expectation of working significant overtime, but I've worked in factories which had mandatory overtime in the US, so that sort of structural coercion isn't unique to China. Compared to a "right to work" state, Chinese workers have stronger protections from being laid off or fired. The main downside seems to be lax enforcement of safety standards. If the government doesn't notice something unsafe on its own, there isn't a Chinese version of dropping a hint to OSHA.

    Now further upstream in the supply chain? No thanks. That's where you'll find abysmal working conditions. Just remember there are good reasons our government wants us to believe everything sucks for workers in China.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Oh yes, and even plum union jobs for floor workers in Windsor or Brampton can be kind of shit too, especially in some of the parts factories.

    I expect that from hypercapitalist oligarch-run societies. I don't expect it from vanguard countries. It's a betrayal.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

    Frankly, american cars could use a knockdown. Tesla was our only real hope, and we would have glided into a strong Tesla and EV empire if conservative dems didn't bail out GM, Chrysler, and Ford. Additionally, Tesla wouldn't have been in a position to get bought by a dumb nazi.

    I'd say, let their stuff in. Lets get some good cheap and subsidizes vehicles from China on the condition that they don't raise car prices by more than 2% a year.

    American companies will more than likely fall on their face and hopefully die. Making room for a new american car company to take their place.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago

    American car companies (and American built cars) get subsidies from the US, Canada, and Mexico as all three form a single manufacturing chain. They simply have had a different set of priorities that allowed newcomers to eat their lunch, like it happens to any complacent industry.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago*

    Chinese cars are heavily subsidized by the state. The reason they're so cheap is because China bets it can squeeze the competition

    Used to be, to get them going, robotics, innovation and vertical integration is most of the reason now. An example, BYD have their own roro ships and have ordered another 10,

    https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/byd-orders-10-more-car-carriers-export-push-accelerates

    and the new ships will be built in China

    they make their own batteries, electric motors etc and have massive robotic assembly plants.

    To suggest the reason why is because it's not a level playing field is ludicrous, the US spends many billions subsidizing car manufacturers on top of the billions us consumers spend in subsidizing them. directly.

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