New Hilux's made in China ???

I heard that China is having production problems with some factories closing. He gets sporting goods made there and says it's getting hard . Is that your experience? A lot is moving to Vietnam now. I wonder how we'll be when cheap labour runs out? Mike

They are starting with minimum wages in China now, so some factories can't complete.

That being said the quality of life for Chinese has greatly improved and will continue to improve.

As someone who has done a lot of business in China for the last 15 years I can tell you it is full steam ahead in China.

Go visit Shanghai and when you come back tell me which looks more like a 3rd word city, Shanghai or Melbourne......

It is true that the South Eastern provences and cities on the coast are seeing increased labour costs and living standards.

BUT the further east and north you go inland, the less it starts to look like a wealthy country.

The facts are that the factories aren't moving from China to places like Vietnam, they are moving North and East to provences where labour is still under $1.00 a day, a lot less than most of SE Asia. There are still over 450 million people in China who are on less than $1 to 2 per day so pleeeeeenty of places left to move to.

My friend said that the western corporations are doing the moving. He is getting a lot of hassles lately where he used to have very few. For the past 12 years he had all his stock manufactured in China, but now he is having better results out of Vietnam. Agreed, China is definately full steam ahead though. As a country we should be greatly concerned about what will happen when the cheap labour runs out ie current 3rd world countries start to achieve our standard of living (and I am all for that by the way). The cost of manufactured items will go through the roof and we will have no manufacturing expertise or infrastructure left here. At least we will still have the natural resources...hopefully. Anyway, it probably won't happen in my lifetime but I do have kids. Mike

Boobook!!
The Chinese have been ruthless in demolishing Shanghai old city and as factories move to other areas, most of the people on the land give up producing food to work in the factories. Sooner or later when the factories move to cheaper areas, there will be no one to produce food for their town and provences. It will become a real problem in time to come i think.

Regards Michael

Have you been to Port Melbourne where the whole area has been replaced, Or the finges of Melbourne's metro area, Hundreds of market gardens and farms have dissapeared. Same thing. I am sure it is the same in Sydney.

The Bund area in Shanghai is a model for historical preservation that no City in Australia can match or even come close to.

Sure there is a lot of demolition in any Chinese city but the same thing is going on here.

A bowl of rice works wonders amongst the car giants

hehehehe

Bucky! I think i will be keeping my old 4.2 for many years to come... Made in Japan....... Michael

Michael....
my bowl of rice is more expensive than your bowl of rice

go the mighty 4.2

Cheers
Bucky

Believe it or not there is a version of the Holden Commodore made in China too (albeit in CKD form).

And Mercedes are made in China, BMW have a new factory, and there are more Volkswagons made in China than everywhere else put together.

G'day TerraFirma

I do get out more often - more often than most !
I have lived and worked overseas and have travelled the world fairly extensively and have clocked up well over 3 million k's in this big brown land we call Australia, probably over a million of them on dirt. One of my 3 businesses deals with Chinese made products ( not my doing ) and believe me THEY ARE of inferior quality. One of my 4wd's is made in Thailand and I'm very happy with it. China is currently in the same position as Japan was 40 to 50 years ago when they made cheap products that didn't last, then Japan lifted their game and started building higher quality goods to meet expectations of the western world. I have no doubt whatsoever that China will make quality products in the near future and as a result of this the Australian car industry ( what's left of it ) will be forced to close down.

See you in the bush - but not in my Chinese made 4wd !


Cheers

Gazz

Gazz no worries, you seem so surprised the Hilux was made in Thailand.? In a Toyota managed factory no doubt, to me I don't care where it's made, but who it's made by, there is a difference. Generic Chinese copy products are inferior without a doubt, the Hilux is almost outselling Commondores, and it's made in Thailand.

See you in the bush, and yes in my Thai made 4WD !

Cheers....

As I posted years ago...The Nissan Navara is made in Spain & Thailand depending on what specs the vehicle is......the navara is a damn good ute it's just the clutches fail & the door handles & window winders break but hey....nothing is perfect. Wasn;t there a car manufacturer in England that was allegedly sabotaged by the Union/workers ended up going to the wall!!! Could you imagine that happening in China? The instigators would be shot & also their families too!!! Thank God for the Koeans car manufacturers because they marketed 5 year warranties!!! before anyone else decided to. Would you prefer to travel to the Kimberley in an Asian made machine or a pommie 4 X 4. That's why I bought a Mitsubishi.....10 year warranty on driveline.....five years on everything else....including road side assist. Have you noticed the increase in sales especially on the 4 X 4 Mitsubishi range......great value for $$$$.

Yes speaking to the Service Manager of Melbourne's largest Nissan dealer and the clutches are failing big time, along with various other things on a regular basis. Mitsubishi have been very smart with their warranty, good on them, they will continue to steal market share from Nissan imo.

Down the track Toyota and Nissan will have to watchout for Mitsubishi, Toyota are the dearest and thats ok while they are making the superior product, but if that every changes, look out. The recalls are a storm in a teacup, only a handfull of of Hiluxes have had issues and when you understand how these isolated cases occurred, any vehicle would have broken. In the Hilux case marketing the product as unbreakable was asking for trouble..!

Hi TerraFirma

I am sewriously glad that Misubishi have a good rep, as if I do not invest in a trayback, I would seriously look at a Canter (small truck) which could be readily converted into a camper as well. Being a tradey it would be handy for when I do long runs, as the amount of times I have helped people with A Frames and the like on their vans, I always carry a small mig and my 4.5 kw Honda gen set, which normally run the Waeco and Engel in the trailer anyway, as we never camp near other people.

My Hilux has had plenty of issues, but that is the terrain, and the diesel mewchanic that I have been using for years always tells me that my Hilux is a real bush beast.

Cheers

Good tip - thanks