Chinese goods, from textiles to tools to toys, have been flooding into America for years. But despite their repeated promises, Chinese automakers haven’t begun to make a dent in the car market in the United States.
For at least half a decade, Chinese manufacturers including Brilliance, Geely, Great Wall and BYD Auto have displayed vehicles at the Detroit and Los Angeles auto shows, often with news releases announcing plans to sell cars in the near future. But the cars never materialized in the dealer showrooms — which also remain missing.
In 2006, the Nanjing Automobile Group, which bought the assets of the bankrupt MG Rover, said it wanted to be the first Chinese carmaker to build vehicles in the United States — including a new edition of the MG sports car — but its plans to open an Oklahoma factory never materialized.
Geely, which bought Volvo last year, showed small sedans at the 2006 and 2008 Detroit auto shows, but those cars have not been certified to meet American safety and emissions standards.
The false starts are a result of Chinese automakers’ letting their ambitions get ahead of the hard work of cracking the ultracompetitive American market, analysts say. Fueled by cheap financing and booming domestic demand, Chinese automakers have been growing rapidly at home. That has given them the confidence, though not necessarily the tools, to start selling to Americans.
“This isn’t computers or cellphones, where you just get into a big-box store,” said Bill Visnic, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com. “You need some dealerships, and those things are tremendous investments of time and resources. They thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was.”
Mr. Omotoso said the Chinese could buy competitors and use their dealers to reach Americans. The most likely candidate for this strategy is Geely, which acquired Volvo last summer. Even then, Geely would have to spend millions of dollars on marketing — and hope American consumers are adventurous enough to try a new brand.
“The problem with the Chinese car companies,” Mr. Omotoso said, “is they are trying to run before they walk.”
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