Thread: Just heard

that GM is going to import Chinese built cars into the U.S. beginning in 2011. Now since WE ALL KNOW that Chinese products are made with the HIGHEST QUALITY, I bet we will all want to place our orders immediately, right?????

It used to be"Made in Japan" meant JUNK IN JAPAN but now that label has been passed on to Chinese Products.

I'd buy a Chinese car before a would a govt/UAW ran GM or Crysler. I suspect the used car market will be flourishing for a long while. What Obama did to the SECURED creditors over the UN-secured UAW is criminal, turning the law upside down. His demonizing them for not just accepting the deal is futher proof of his disregard for law. It's ironic that one of the investors in Oppenheimer, one of the secured creditors, is the Michigan Teachers Union. So Obama screws one union plus hundreds of other average and group investors to pay back his buddies at the UAW.

On top of that, he threaten to without billions of stimulus money from California if they didn't restored UNIONIZED home health care workers NEGOTIOATED pay cuts that was ACCEPTED by the UNION, but then SEIU went whining to the WHITE HOUSE. SEIU make the comment, "We spent 67.4 million to elect Obama but it was worth every cent." It's shocking to see a President of the U.S. going around cutting Crysler's advertising budget and constant meddling, like going to New Mexico today to hype his "credit card" overhaul while flip-flopping on Gitmo and the release of the "torture" pics. Narcissism at it's finest and it's scariest.

There is a car dealership in Sarasota FL that will be importing nifty vehicles from India.
SARASOTA COUNTY - While working for General Motors in the 1980s and early 1990s, Pawan Goenka discovered Americans' passion for trucks and SUVs.

As president of the automotive sector for Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., based in Mumbai, India, Goenka is using that knowledge to bring India's first trucks to the United States this year.

But Mahindra is not off-loading the stereotypical gas guzzler. The Mahindra trucks benefit from advanced emissions technology, making them more environmentally friendly. They also run on diesel and get about 30 miles per gallon.

A new brand -- coming out just as GM struggles with solvency and Chrysler declares bankruptcy -- and that new technology should create enough excitement to overcome dealers' problems selling trucks and sports utility vehicles amid a recession and on the heels of last year's gasoline spike, Goenka said.

He was in Sarasota on Tuesday to inspect one of the country's first dealerships and talk about the trucks, which are still being tested and being retrofitted to tougher emission and safety standards.

Mahindra said he wants to make sure the look and feel of the dealership speaks to their "DNA and the organic feel."

Jack Urfer, who has a long history in Southwest Florida auto businesses, plans to open the dealership on Clark Road this fall, next door to his son's Land Rover business. It will be one of the first Mahindra dealerships in the nation.

"New brands don't come into the market often," Goenka said. "When there is no excitement in the market, it is good to bring in something that creates excitement."

While confident about the appeal of the trucks' fuel economy and pricing, Goenka acknowledges that credit markets must improve in order for the trucks to be successful early on, and that American consumers will need time to get to know the brand.

The concept is still so new that Mahindra has not set prices. Its SUVs are scheduled to come to market in the next year.

"We will decide the price prior to the launch," Goenka said. "We will keep the prices competitive."

During the next few years, Mahindra said, he plans to open more than 300 dealerships in the United States. About half will be new, with the remainder remodeled dealerships that have closed as a result of the shake-up in the global automobile industry.

Before that, Mahindra will work with Global Vehicles, the U.S. distributor for Mahindra, in launching a campaign to introduce the company and its vehicles to consumers.

The 60-year-old Mahindra has been building Jeeps since World War II. It sells tractors worldwide, including in the United States, and also has a software division.

Its marketing in the next few months will focus on educating the American consumer about the brand, the conglomerate and its vehicles.

The company is popular in India, where it holds a market share of nearly 85 percent. It has been spreading its business into surrounding countries, and to Europe and South America.

Late this summer, Mahindra plans to take about a dozen vehicles on a road trip for consumers to see and drive. Later in 2009, the company will open its Sarasota and Atlanta dealerships.

"The United States has this love affair with trucks," Goenka said. "It's the main reason we want to be here."

There also will be lessons to take back home. Trucks in India are seen as a work product. In the United States, many see the vehicles as a lifestyle product, Goenka said.

"We're trying to create that in India."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article.../2107/BUSINESS

I have already placed my order!