Automotive

patrick_y
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There is an easy solution. Just not a reality nor a solution people want to accept.

As someone who has worked in the automotive space; there are a few things I'd like to point out...
Generally, in order to succeed in business, you have to be either the fastest, the cheapest, or the best... China is one of the fastest to market, cheapest to market, and they're now making great products too.
1. Chinese cars have gotten very good. Extremely good. The lead that American, Japanese, European, and Korean car brands is dwindling - especially in the electric vehicle space. Most of the West does not know this, and many refuse to acknowledge this.
2. Much of the world still believes that American and German cars are the best; this fact is already changing, but human perception takes a longer time to change since the big brands like Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, have a pedigree whereas Chinese car brands have no pedigree..
3. Governments are protecting their own existing car industries for as long as possible - as this is what voters are prioritizing.
4. Voters may one day prioritize getting cheap Chinese cars over saving the jobs of people who work in the auto industry. Then the government will change tack quite quickly.
5. Intellectual property used to be something that gave European and American car companies an advantage over Chinese car companies. The special secret sauce to make cars handle well, to make cars safer, etc. has slowly been acquired by Chinese car companies. Today's Chinese car companies make very safe cars, high quality cars, cars that drive and handle well. The Chinese car companies buy the same components and steering mechanisms from the same suppliers used by the European car brands; Bosch (traction control computers), Continental (lots of parts), Harman International (radio/infotainment UI/UX), Brembo (brakes), ZF (transmissions and steering racks), and are basically able to make a car that's very European. Thus, the intellectual property advantage is slowly eroding.
6. Software advantage; the Chinese tech companies are getting into car manufacturing and thus the software in Chinese cars have elapsed the European car companies. VW has had lots of software problems. GM, Ford, Stellantis, Mercedes, BMW, all have software deficiencies. Only Tesla, Rivian, Xiaomi, and a few other Chinese car companies are considered leaders in software.
7. Cars are a thin margin business. Some small mistakes can make a company go belly up. And the capital expenditure to start a new company is huge! Long-term investors are needed. Very few new car companies have successfully debuted in the West over the past 50 years. Chinese governments are invested in the car industry, so the Chinese car industry has a life line (although this investment won't hold out forever). Lucid Motors, an American car company that is heavily invested by the government of Saudi Arabia enjoys another state investor.
8. (this bullet point is more about my speculation; the other bullet points are more fact based) China has a whole strategy. Which is probably not a car strategy, but probably an energy market strategy. Cars are just a part of that strategy. There's something even more macro going on. Likely a battery storage and solar power industry idea. The government is very focused on this idea as it is crucial to be able to power and feed 1.4 billion people reliably and sustainably. Thus, the government is very entrenched and committed to this strategy. Whereas the Western governments are more fractioned and stuck in endless debate.
So, go look objectively at these Chinese cars. The Xiaomi SU7 to me looks interesting. Double wishbone architecture (keep in mind, even the Porsche 911 Turbo still uses a MacPherson Strut), safe crash tests (should pass Euro NCAP with 5 stars, the BYDs already do), great build quality (the Chinese know how to build things really well), and relatively good performance statistics. I haven't driven one, but racetrack times show it's very competitive. On paper, without driving it, I can't say it's a bad car...
Last year I had a Mercedes EQE 350+ sedan rental car. It was so bad. The suspension felt like it was on stilts. The power was lacking. I didn't push the car, but the car felt heavy and the handling didn't seem to inspire much confidence. I was surprised. I've driven multiple E Class petrol combustion cars and they were always extremely competent machines. I used to say, "Mercedes and BMW couldn't make a car that drove too badly even if they tried." Well, I'm eating my words. The EQS and EQE sedans aren't very good in my eyes. The Chinese car wouldn't have to be great to beat the EQE and the EQS.
So... What is the solution? The solution lies with voters. One day they'll want to protect their Western car brands. And eventually, they'll want less expensive Chinese cars that are likely to be very good and significantly cheaper. Then, there will be real competition and some Western car brands may go kaput.