Quick - Name A Chinese Car Company!

You can't, can you?

Well, neither can I. But that may be about to change - using a generous interpretation of the words "about to". By 2007, imported Chinese cars may be flooding the American and European markets, with an effect no doubt similar to the Koreans and Japanese before them. This article captures some of the possibilities:

But Bricklin and Chery aim to begin with models that will compete with mainstream vehicles. Starting in 2007, they plan to roll out a four-door sedan, a crossover SUV, and a sports car. The SUV, which Bricklin grandly compares to the $31,000 BMW X3, will sell for $15,000. While analysts say Chery will face a marketing challenge, analyst Jim Hall of AutoPacific Inc. says its cars will generate interest "because of a price advantage, just as Hyundai did in the beginning."

The other interesting possibility is that the Chinese, who've invested in clean car technologies in ways the US hasn't, might actually be the lever that forces US and European car manufacturers to compete on clean, cheap cars as well. It sounds kind of bizarre, but Beijing has a problem - the national goal is a car in every driveway, but China can't possible support that many cars - the chinese would simply asphixiate on the pollution. Enter clean fuels like ethanol, natural gas, and other possibilities.

If Beijing follows Brazil's lead and invests in flexible-fuel cars, we could see a major change in the auto industry in the next decade. This is something the Rocky Mountain Institute has predicted, and god knows I'd love to see it happen. Of course, we're then likely to see another spasm of anti-Asian xenophobia in the US, especially in the south where most cars are now built. I wouldn't want to be Chinese in Tennessee these days. Of course, I never want to be in Tennessee, so there's that.