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Comment by energy123

16 hours ago

You can't compete if you have minimum wage and immigration restrictions. The labor market is far too costly compared to what Chinese companies have access to.

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energy123

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jillesvangurp  9 hours ago

Like BYD, there's nothing stopping GM, Ford, and other manufacturers from opening factories anywhere in the world and employing the locals at a discount. They certainly did that in the past. But that's not leveling the playing field because their products are simply lacking. Too expensive to make, too inefficient. That's fixable but it would require investment and right now the US car manufacturers seem to want to invest less instead of more. It's hard to see how they would catch up. Ford is currently doing the pragmatic thing which is partnering with other companies to produce cars for the international market. VW and Renault in the EU, various Chinese manufacturers in China. US models are a non starter for those markets.

The Chinese are actually investing heavily in robotics and automation. They rely a lot less on cheap labor than you seem to assume. And their production is going global as well they are building manufacturing plants on most continents. They are opening plants in Europe and South America. BYD factories are state of the art.