cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/63264799
And, a recent tour of one of the Asian powerhouse’s vehicle plants has proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least to Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
“We have no chance against this,” Mibe said upon a visit to a Shanghai parts factory, commenting on its seamless automation across all levels of production. Logistics, procurement and all aspects of the process were so automated, in fact, that he did not spot a single human worker on the supplier’s floor.
Ford executives saying even three years ago that China was way ahead of the game
Toyota’s CEO has likewise said regarding not just his company, but the industry in general, “unless things change, we will not survive”
1997 was almost 30 years ago - that’s what I call decades! And hybrids are obviously a dead end for at least 15 years now. They were a nice stepping stone but nothing you can (or should) build your future on.
And: Yes, China did a concerted effort to push for emobility - while Europe, USA and Japan did everything to convince people that fossil fueled cars are the pinnacle of engineering and greater than everything.
Turns out: it’s not. And everyone with a basic understanding in physics could see through that for many years.
We can keep blaming China, cry sad tears for the dying oiltimers - or finally put everything we still have into renewable energies, climate friendly traveling, etc.
But I guess that won’t happen.
The next industry we can gut is already starting to breath quite heavy due to ever increasing kerosene costs: air travel My prognosis: We will fuck it up exactly the same way and complain in a few years that Boeing, Airbus and Embraer are losing market share like crazy against air planes from China and Korea…