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Please don't feel sorry for me because (1) I don't live in CA and (2) I'm not as ignorant as you appear to be.
Do you really think the Chinese are building a car manufacturing plant in CA because it's full of high skilled, high paid labor? Car manufacturers don't hire people with master's degrees to put together cars on assembly lines.
Yes, one of us is both ignorant and mean spirited but that would be you.
BTW as I explicitly spelled out the highly skilled trades I specifically mentioned were design and engineering but I guess reading comprehension is something you need to work on. That's the same reason EVERY major automaker has set up shop here and why California is the second largest manufacturing state when it comes to cars and car parts. That's another reason auto makers like to locate here because they can find a large pool of skilled and experienced workers. That you dismiss that advantage means you really don't know much.
Regardless of the job creation and related boost to the CA economy, keep in mind that these are Chinese engineered vehicles. With my experience with the products
they engineer and build in China, I suspect that despite US workers, these cars are going to be slow to sell, regardless of price, once people see them. They are a long way from the quality that the Japanese are know for, expect another Yugo-like car.
If they can hit lower price points than most manufacturers, there will be a market for them. Most of those here help abandoned (largely) the notion of a brand new 10k, basics car. Yes, I know Nissan ahs the Versa, but there used to be several.
I have little doubt long-term they will try to go up the food chain, but as much as you dislike the Yugo (as do I), there was and is IMO a market for the low end of the price range for autos.
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Originally Posted by Think4Yourself
BYD Auto, a Chinese maker of electric and hybrid cars which is partially owned by the US's second richest man Warren Buffet, recently set up a new factory in Lancaster, CA. At first the factory will only make Buses and commercial vehicles but starting in 2015 BYD wants to begin selling cars in the US and at prices lower than most US or Japanese makers can deliver at. A key plan of BYD's US business plan is to expand assembly in the US with Lancaster being their North American manufacturing center.
This might seem small at the beginning but these sorts of businesses grow over time and the Chinese have both money and a long term outlook for investing so this is great news for California. Two other Chinese automakers both want to get into the US car market (Geeley Automotive and Great Wall Motors) and although both of them will begin just by exporting cars from China they both say they eventually want to set up factories in the US with the west coast being their preferred location.
i remember a couple of years ago, Toyota made that same argument. Turns out they were simply using the selling price for their most basic models(no bells and whistles) instead of the ones that came with satellite radios, heated seats,and built in navigation.
I just don't see this as a wise business move. Having a factory in California probably means having to deal with a union, or even worse, unions. It means having to pay workers $30 or more an hour to do something a worker in Texas would do for $12 an hour. It means also paying high insurance and taxes. I am not blaming California for this because it is a high cost of living state. The reason it cost so much to live in California is because lots of people want to live there but obviously there is not enough room for everybody to move there. You can buy 4 houses in Dallas, Houston or Austin for what a condo in L.A. would cost you.
California is not a good state to put a factory if they plan on being price competitive. Labor cost there are very high because it cost a lot to live there. They should have put the plant in Alabama or Texas maybe. Even the major tech companies that have headquarters in California put their assembly plants elsewhere in places like Texas.
They are of course putting the factory there because of the very large Chinese population in California and it is the easiest place to travel between America and China.
BTW as I explicitly spelled out the highly skilled trades I specifically mentioned were design and engineering but I guess reading comprehension is something you need to work on. That's the same reason EVERY major automaker has set up shop here and why California is the second largest manufacturing state when it comes to cars and car parts. That's another reason auto makers like to locate here because they can find a large pool of skilled and experienced workers. That you dismiss that advantage means you really don't know much.
If this company picked CA because of it's "highly skilled work force" why did they put this factory in Lancaster CA?
For population 25 years and over in Lancaster:
High school or higher: 81.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 14.4%
Graduate or professional degree: 5.2%
Unemployed: 15.0%
Because it's a great place to find cheap, low skilled, assembly line labor.
I just don't see this as a wise business move. Having a factory in California probably means having to deal with a union, or even worse, unions. It means having to pay workers $30 or more an hour to do something a worker in Texas would do for $12 an hour. It means also paying high insurance and taxes. I am not blaming California for this because it is a high cost of living state. The reason it cost so much to live in California is because lots of people want to live there but obviously there is not enough room for everybody to move there. You can buy 4 houses in Dallas, Houston or Austin for what a condo in L.A. would cost you.
This factory is located in Lancaster CA, not on Hollywood Blvd.
The cost of living index for Lancaster CA is on par with the average US cost of living, you can buy a house in Lancaster CA for $100K.
If this company picked CA because of it's "highly skilled work force" why did they put this factory in Lancaster CA?
For population 25 years and over in Lancaster:
High school or higher: 81.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 14.4%
Graduate or professional degree: 5.2%
Unemployed: 15.0%
Because it's a great place to find cheap, low skilled, assembly line labor.
Their assembly line is in Lancaster but their North American HQ as well as their design and engineering center are in L.A. proper. The assembly is the lowest skilled and least value added bit where as senior management, accounting, advertising, engineering, and design (basically the white collar stuff) is where having a large pool of skilled talent matters. That's why they located those parts in L.A. proper.
Their assembly line is in Lancaster but their North American HQ as well as their design and engineering center are in L.A. proper. The assembly is the lowest skilled and least value added bit where as senior management, accounting, advertising, engineering, and design (basically the white collar stuff) is where having a large pool of skilled talent matters. That's why they located those parts in L.A. proper.
Yes "assembly" which is what will take place at the new factory in Lancaster CA which was the original subject of this thread wasn't it?
At least you finally admit that I was right about finding plentiful low skilled, bottom of the barrel labor in the great state of California. I hope this company and it's low skilled employees do great in their new factory being built in one of the many flyover areas of California.
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Car manufacturers don't hire people with master's degrees to put together cars on assembly lines.
