Japan's Honda Motor says no plan to build engine factory in China [12.11.7]

[kwoodman]

Originally Posted by Exbox

If honda was the ONLY Japanese company there was, you might be right. But there was a time if you said Japanese made, junk came to mind (like China today).
American auto manufactures used to think just like you do, "Don't worry about Japan our quiality and technology is so far advanced we don't have to worry!). Now we are playing catch up.
So while true Chinese goods seem inferior compared to others be carful of what the future may hold.
It may take 20, 30, 40, or 50 years but the Asian culture is very patient.
Look a little further than the tip of your nose.

I totally agree. I, too, remember when 'Made in Japan' meant crap.
And I also think the day will come when 'Made in China' will mean quality. It's just a matter of WHEN.

[shovelhd]

Within my lifetime. China already owns the low cost commodity manufacturing world. It's only a matter of time before they own the engineering side as well.

[geotech]

It's true that China will catch up fast. After all they are fundamentally an authoritarian state of communists for the poor and capitalists for those in power positions. Not a lot union issues there. They are also willing to copy, steal and falsely label anything at anytime that will make a profit. They also assassinate plant managers and ministers that get caught skimming or tainting their products for export. (Listen up U.S. CEO's). I'm sure they could fast track anything.

All Hail the Glorious People's Republic of WalMart!

[BruceRTL]

Oh yea! Having just returned from a 2 week stay in China, I 100% agree with Geotech when he says, "They are also willing to copy, steal and falsely label anything at anytime that will make a profit." So true!!! Quality suffers big time along with us consumers. (thanks for letting me vent)

[shovelhd]

How does the consumer suffer?
The average Joe Consumer will go for cheap over quality 90% of the time.
Wages in America have not kept up with inflation for several years.
The influx of cheap Chinese products has reduced the cost of commodity items.
This keeps Joe Consumer's buying power for staple goods at the same level even though his buying power has decreased.
The problem comes when Joe Consumer wants to buy a quality product, and he can't afford it.
Which is why this country has a credit crisis.

I'm not an economist.

[jrcrum]

Originally Posted by Exbox

If honda was the ONLY Japanese company there was, you might be right. But there was a time if you said Japanese made, junk came to mind (like China today).
American auto manufactures used to think just like you do, "Don't worry about Japan our quiality and technology is so far advanced we don't have to worry!). Now we are playing catch up.
So while true Chinese goods seem inferior compared to others be carful of what the future may hold.
It may take 20, 30, 40, or 50 years but the Asian culture is very patient.
Look a little further than the tip of your nose.

rest assured the japs never sent over products that were harmful to the american population. (ie. toys with lead in them, tooth paste with antifreeze, tainted dog food) They are true capitalist and believe that you create a customer base by building quality products and having good customer service. IMHO Honda and most of the other japanese companies never built an inferior product they built what the american consumers wanted at the time. Soichiro Honda was a brilliant man who did most of his own market research which helped to lead to his companies success.

IMO honda has never put out crap. in 1964 honda had a 45 hp dohc 444 cc motorcycle engine.(thats 100hp/ltr. amazing for that time period) comparing japan to china is apples to oranges, people who didn't like jap products called them crap. china builds crap theres a difference.

[geotech]

In the late 50's, my next door neighbor friend had a windup metal toy car that was made in Japan. It finally stopped working after a lot of abuse (jumping/crashing...boy stuff). We decide to "fix" it by prying it apart. I'll never forget that the car was made from an inside out Schlitz beer can! From then on I respected the resourcefulness of the Japanese. I guess the Chinese are too if you count adding a poison (melamine) to wheat gluten in order to falsely bring up the protein count as "resourceful."

But another question that was lost in the dog food tragedy was why can't the U.S. manufactures of dog food use U.S. wheat gluten? Is it that much more expensive? I live in town that had one of the plants that produced the poisoned food. We are in the heart of wheat and mill country that feeds the rest of the world.

[Greyhounds]

As Bruce stated, according to a recent article, 85% of all counterfit products are made in China.

Originally Posted by BruceRTL

Oh yea! Having just returned from a 2 week stay in China, I 100% agree with Geotech when he says, "They are also willing to copy, steal and falsely label anything at anytime that will make a profit." So true!!! Quality suffers big time along with us consumers. (thanks for letting me vent)

I have no problem with the quality of chinese products, they can be as good as any throughout the world.

With that said, for the past 2 years, we have boycotted "made in china'...the recent lead/toy recalls have caused others to jump in, but our reasons are not quality or safety.

I won't get on my soapbox here---but there are many more important reasons not to buy from china--so I really hope Honda stays out of that market---at least not for export to other areas of the world.

[truckU]

Just a thought but, maybe the Japanese are following the US companies by looking for cheap labor in another country. If I'm not mistaken, Chevrolet has some dealings with Chinese companies.