[Rhodes22-list] Weather, Cars, and Strange Bedfellows

[brad haslett]

Bad weather cancelled today's planned trip to the
lake.  Thunderstorms knocked out the power for about
two hours but also provided a good excuse not to do
yardwork.  When the net came back this interesting
piece of news floated in. Billionare financier George
Soros, funder of MoveOn.org and contributor of about
$30 million to the Kerry campaign, is financing the
first Chinese car (Chery) to come to the States, due
to arrive next year.  Malcolm Bricklin, the man behind
the idea, is most remembered for importing the Yugo. 
He is less known for importing the Suburu, a great
success. Bricklin apparently is running short on funds
and is teaming up with Soros.  I wonder if Michael
Moore is planning another 'Roger and Me' type movie
about how Detroit is being decimated? Maybe this will
take some heat off WalMart. I sat in a Chery at the
Dalian car show last year and was impressed.  Too bad
Soros is involved now, my personal politics won't
allow me to buy one.  Links and articles attached.
When this story hits the MSM, and it will, you can say
you heard it on the list first.

Brad

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http://www.forbes.com/2006/06/16/soros-china-cars-cx_gl_0616autofacescan04_print.html

Faces In The News 1985 Redux? Soros Backs Cheap China
Car Exporter
Greg Levine, 06.16.06, 2:46 PM ET

New York - Warning: Those haunted by images of
bruisers and drunken rascals tipping over Yugos, brace
yourselves. 

George Soros is poised to give you flashbacks from
1985. 

The billionaire financier is backing Malcolm
Bricklin's vision of importing autos from China to the
U.S. 

The latter name might not spring immediately to mind,
but his claim to fame will: Bricklin was instrumental
in bringing the Yugo to the U.S. market. Made in
now-defunct Yugoslavia--the rare Communist country
outside the Kremlin's control--the car's standard base
price was $3,990, making it the Reagan Era's cheapest
ride. 

Unfortunately, sometimes you get what you pay for. The
lightweight Balkan number gave its owners endless
trouble: barely-touched virgin models had engine,
brake, transmission and electrical-system failures.
And even a friendlier people's republic offered lousy
international dealer service. In 1989, the export
experiment ended: Yugo America went bankrupt. 

But 1989, the year Beijing shocked the world with the
slaughter in Tiananmen Square, was a long time ago.
And with gasoline prices now at all-time highs,
Bricklin and Soros figure Yanks are ready for another
super-cheap import from the East. 

Reportedly, Soros infused $200 million into escrow for
Bricklin's Visionary Vehicles, backing the company's
joint venture with China's Chery Automobile. Together,
Visionary and its Asian counterpart will develop and
manufacture autos for Western export. 

Over the decades, Pacific Rim automakers have earned
the world's respect, as Toyota Motor took Ford Motor
and General Motors to task. And the South Korean new
wave of Hyundai and Kia even showed Tokyo a few new
tricks. 

The Chery cars are slated to be made cheaply and
undercut the pricing of all rivals, including thrifty
Korean makes. Sounds good? Hey, it works for the
bric-a-brac China supplies to Wal-Mart. But durables
are another matter. And if, like the Yugo, Bricklin's
brainchildren are too good to be true, the
entrepreneur and his partner Soros may be smarting
like it's 1989. 

-----------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery_Automobile

-----------------

http://www.vvcars.com/





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