Chinese MC makers moving upmarket

[KZ25]

jimbobs;284996 wrote: Ok i have been banging the drum for jap vehicles.As i have already stated i have just paid 300,000b for a Thailand made bike...will it be as good as a Jap kwaka..its an old model now and will be replaced soon..but i value you fellas opinion..do you recon quality has suffered by it being PUT TOGETHER than it would be in Japan...i know this is an old subject but many guys on this forum actually have owned these bikes for a couple of years...Would they trade their Jap built for a new Thai built
Sorry Guys its a Versys

I bought a Honda Wave new in 2001 for 43,000 THB, put 65,000 km on it in nine years and never had a problem. The bike was once totally submerged in a flood, the only thing that went wrong was that the speedo stop working 20,000 km later. Upon inspection it showed that the cable had lots of sand in it. It's really surprising that it worked that long! I sold it in one day for 10,000 THB.
All 110/125cc Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis and Kawas you see every day on the roads are assembled in Thailand. In Thai factories by Thai workers. The important fact is that the design of the bikes, the supervision and the quality control is Japanese. Are they quality bikes? You bet! If you wouldn't know that the bike was assembled here you'd believe it was assembled in Japan and you would not ask about quality. But many people hear "Made in Thailand" or "Made in India" or "Made in China" and confuse that with Thai, Indian or Chinese products.
Tiger is a Thai product and even though it is worlds better than any Chinese product it's not as good as a Japanese product. Therefor it's cheaper.
So ride your Versys and enjoy it, don't worry about quality issues, you got your money's worth! It's a good bike but not perfect (nothing is) and when a hose comes off don't blame it on the fact that it was assembled here.

 

[TonyBKK]

nikster;285006 wrote: Tony makes a very good point: What China is doing right now is working very well for them - they have no reason to change. That is more true in China today than anywhere - if you have been there recently its a gold rush, there is so much business coming in, so many things happening, that nobody even thinks about changing. Most are too busy adapting / figuring out how to make money and how to keep growing like they have been.

Another point is that since China is the world's factory, a Chinese company making vehicles has no advantage over a European/japanese/american one - everyone is producing in China. Chinese are not even the best at taking advantage of the Chinese manufacturing miracle as western companies are leading the way in supply chain optimization, again Apple is a great example, no inventory, products delivered world wide direct from Shenzen, and hardware margins that are unheard of.

Chinese are not at a disadvantage of course but as it is everyone is happily making money on the status quo.

The switch to electric vehicles will provide another disruption and chance for new players, but it already looks like thats also going to be western r&d leading the way. Those Chinese knock off motorbikes are not going to win over the world...

Glad you touched on R&D; Chinese companies simply don't invest in R&D. In a country where there is no respect for intellectual property laws it's much cheaper to make a one off copy than to invest in r&d to create a new original product. We can see plenty of examples of this in the Chinese motorcycle industry. Cheap low quality Chinese copies of the venerable Honda Cub for example. They come no where near the quality of a genuine Honda, but they sell well because they are incredibly cheap and cost very little to produce.

 

[daewoo]

TonyBKK;285013 wrote: They come no where near the quality of a genuine Honda, but they sell well because they are incredibly cheap and cost very little to produce.

And then they can easily buy another one and show off how rich they are with another new bike...

daewoo;284386 wrote:
The one thing that will work in the rest of the worlds favour is that quality is of no importance to Chinese, and their factories are set up to serve the 1.6billion (real figure, not published figure) domestic market. The Chinese mentality is about showing off what they have purchased. If it is cheap and crap, and fails immediately, they can purchase again and show off sooner...

 

[KZ25]

KZ25;284970 wrote: I wonder how motorcycle warranty repair statistics look? Are the expensive luxury brand bikes also overrated, overhyped and overpriced compared to the Japanese?

Just read that BMW recalled its brand-new 2013 C600 scooter in Canada because fairing side panels may fall of at higher speeds....

 

[KZ25]

If the parts are produced in Asia under American, Italian or German supervision, which I believe they are, I see nothing wrong with that.

This practise is more profitable; ordering these parts locally would be too expensive and make the company less competitive and prone to a take-over of a more successful company.