China to export Class A Motorhomes to the USA

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AND there is still something called the import tax.  That's why Honda's and Kia's still cost as much as Chevy's and Fords. The Chinese RV won't be 39K. Probably $139K.  Welcome to trade balance.  I buy American when I can because it keeps Americans employed. No big mystery. There will always be some folks to buy the Asian product. That's OK. I'm not on a soap box. Just personal preference. 
 
I don't see much difference either way.  A lot of the components are already made in China or other countries overseas.

We complain about the quality of a lot of imported items, but often they are built for a North American company to certain specs for a certain price.  So if the Chinese built it to spec, we need to blame whoever came up with the specs.  There are a lot of quality products coming from China and a lot of crap. All need to be evaluated individually, we can't generalize.
 
Marc L said:
I don't see much difference either way.  A lot of the components are already made in China or other countries overseas.

We complain about the quality of a lot of imported items, but often they are built for a North American company to certain specs for a certain price.  So if the Chinese built it to spec, we need to blame whoever came up with the specs.  There are a lot of quality products coming from China and a lot of crap. All need to be evaluated individually, we can't generalize.
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I was playing ball with my grand kids today. The ball was new and warped, it was Chinese. :eek:  If they can't make a round ball......
J
 
Like your comment Tom  ;)  And I agree with Sarge.  I too buy American whenever I can, we have enought unemployment in our country so the more we can buy "at home" the better chance people can have at keeping/getting jobs.  I don't hate China, just think it's time our country take care of itself and stop worrying about everyone else for a change. 
 
Not sure where the 39k price tag came from, I think just a comment that seemed to grow to a price tag.  28 to 30' DP's are being asked for.  I know I hear it all the time.  Folks want DP but now want shorter coaches.  There may be a market.  May have to perform chinese guitar maintenance on them, spray and wipe down with WD-40.  Just guessing.

 
39K was just a figure I pulled out of the air for a theoretical question. We have a some people here who claim they would not buy Chinese goods no matter what. I was just wondering how patriotic they would remain if they went shopping for an RV and found two almost identical RVs sitting side by side. The US version was 200k and the Chinese version was 39k. Which one would they buy? I see some are claiming that everything the Chinese make is total junk but they have absolutely no proof. I don't know how they can come to that conclusion. I own lots of Chinese goods and I can't think of one thing that was junk.

I have a Chinese guitar. Cost me $99. It is 5 years old and it has never given me one problem. Fantastic quality. An American made guitar that would be it's equal would easily cost $500 or more. And it would not necessarily be as high quality.
 
Does he have a hand cranked generator Don?  ;D
 
SargeW said:
I buy American when I can because it keeps Americans employed.
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The opposite can be true too.  Many of the Mitsubishi's driving around middle America are built at the factory close to me in Normal, IL.  Nothing but American workers there.  In fact a good friend of mine worked on the line there for 18 years.  He would have stayed, but current economics forced the factory to drastically cut back production and drop an entire shift.  He decided (wisely) to find another job before he ended up being laid off.

On a related note, the Dodge Avenger we had several years back was simply a Mitsubishi Eclipse with a Dodge body bolted onto the Eclipse chassis.  It even had the "diamond star" Mitsubishi symbol on the doorjamb sticker!  Chrysler/Dodge didn't even try to hide it.  ;)  There is a lot of spillover these days as far as where domestic and foreign car makers build their products, and the parts that go in them.
 
Just curious,

After seeing the new 2011 Winnebago's at the GNR and finding that the new emission laws will be in place for the diesels I wonder if the Chinese coaches will be able to meet the new emission standards? Not that it matters to me as I wouldn't buy one anyway. :D
 
seilerbird said:
I have a Chinese guitar. Cost me $99. It is 5 years old and it has never given me one problem. Fantastic quality. An American made guitar that would be it's equal would easily cost $500 or more. And it would not necessarily be as high quality.
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There is no magic there either. That $99 dollar guitar was made by people making $2.00 a day.  Americans need to make $10 to $20 an hour to live in this country. Now you are the one generalizing about the quality of products made in the USA. I will support the American worker when possible. It's just my preference.
 
scottydl said:
The opposite can be true too.  Many of the Mitsubishi's driving around middle America are built at the factory close to me in Normal, IL.  Nothing but American workers there.
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Yep, I was just going to say something like that too. But besides that, all of my cars are American names such as Dodge -- made in Mexico or Canada.

And I added an electronic  Harley Tachometer to my 1971 R-75/5  BMW motorcycle, to replace the mechanical Bosch junk tach that fails every 1500 miles. The tach says clearly "Harley Davidson--made in Japan". And that tach is at last 20 years old.

-Don-​
 
So, if the import is within 10% not the silly extreme os 200 k to 39k, where are the loyalties?  In sales I see customers ready to walk for $1,000 a lot less than 10%.  However, real question is going to be answered when and if they show up on our shores.  The real price seen and the layout and workmanship examined.  Until then it is just Pee in the wind.

 
PancakeBill said:
So, if the import is within 10% not the silly extreme os 200 k to 39k,
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That is not a silly extreme. My Chinese guitar cost $99 and an American made equal would be at least $500.
 
Tom, it IS a silly extreme.  Guitars are not motorhomes.  The mere mathematical ratio does not work.  You may have gotten a good one, but I have seen some cheap guitars and it isn't just profit that makes the diffence in price, on a solid body electric?  I don't know, but it sure does in a hollow body acoustic.  Same with a motorhome.  If we are going to guess possible pricing, my guess is about a 10% difference.

 
being a funeral director we have had chinese crap in our industry for years.  They have caskets which are claimed to be similar/superior to the US made stuff for half the price.  Over the last 5 years or so they have improved a LOT but still not up to par, not that the average person would even notice.  Same with cars, take honda, Kia, Hyundai & all the other vehicles from that part of the world & they all started out as complete crap & slowly improved many times to be industry standards.  Not sure if china can do that but I am sure as years go by their RV's will become competitive.

For me there is no way I would spend my money on one.  I hate even going to wal mart since it's probably 99% chinese crap & support American.  Dayton use to be the tool & die capitol of the world & now it's almost a ghost town with GM pulling out & 90% + of the tool & die shops being closed & now those products come from china.

I also do not see how a $99 chinese guitar can compare to a $500 one from any company.  You might not be able to tell the difference but the proper ear can, at least I would think so.  Just like stereo speaker or amps, with cheaper price points you spend 5x's the cost on a produce & it will almost always sound better but not to everyone.

I also wouldn't think of a chinese RV due to being completely screwed if you have to take it to the manufacturer for service/warrante work.  Fleetwood is 2-3 hours away vs a month or so away.

 
Well, I never even thought they'd bother with such a "smallish" market but with so many builders gone, maybe they see a "market". 

I, too, wish our manufacturing base was not disappearing. 

There was an article in an American Society of Mechanical Engineers publication in 1968 written by a professor at FSU who was warning us that the "electromechanical" industry in the US was doomed...all the plants that made motor driven handtools, sewing machines, relays, ... ultimately pumps, compressors, etc.  No one listened when it was possible to have done something.  Now it is too late... the cost to reenter a market once it has been destroyed is monumental.  When my old circular saw bit the dust I went shopping for a new one... I looked and looked, there are none made here anymore, zero, zilch, nada.  It's either Japan or China and the Makitas are pretty well made but the stuff from China is about 20% of the cost.  It's so cheap, in fact, that you don't worry about getting anything fixed anymore, just throw it away and get another one.

Newsweek mentioned that China has had the world's leading economy for 19 of the past 20 centuries and simply want to regain lost ground.  A fundamental part  of that objective is based on manufacturing and market share, even if obtained at a loss for a while... the Wal-Mart model.  Maybe, we will soon see the real price of products from China when there are no other sources...I'd love to buy a quality circular saw made in Ohio but I can't, as far as I know and now, most of us, shop Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, CostCo, etc who are marketing and distribution companies for China, Inc.

Another fundamental element is to be the world's banker... loan us money by the trillions so we can buy their products and become so deep in debt that we have no leverage, no cash, no options.

There are many flavors of cocaine, I guess... some legal and some illegal.  If they buy the movie business, the airliner businesses and the heavy equipment businesses... what's left?  McDonalds, lawyers, CPAs, hospitals, real estate and agriculture.  I don't know about agriculture.  If they wanted to buy real estate, there's plenty of that for sale and the banks would be glad to be rid of it

So I guess, if China starts selling MH's in the US, it's not really surprising... only that they'd pick that instead of trucks or cars or something with high volume.  Unless, of course, there are incredible margins and profits to be made?

Interesting!
 
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