Managing The Dragon

For the first time in memory, China’s unit vehicle sales declined in 2018, registering a 2.8 percent year over year decline.

If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to sign up for our new podcast series, Managing the Dragon: Demystifying China on iTunes or Spotify. As discussed below, we have been adding new podcasts covering topical issues in the country that you will not want to miss.

“If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly,” my father used to tell me. That’s the way I feel about going into 2019 with my five predictions for the New Year. Four of the five are dependent to a greater or lesser degree on the trade war between the United States and […]

At the end of the first day of trading in the New Year, Apple announced that it was cutting its revenue guidance. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, blamed a slowing Chinese economy and the impact of the trade war between the United States and China for the reduced guidance. In a letter to investors, Cook said: […]

Despite the volatility of 2018, Managing The Dragon (MTD) fared pretty well on its predictions for the year. Of the five predictions made on January 23, four — growth in China’s exports to the United States; the pace of overseas acquisitions by Chinese companies; tensions on the Korean Peninsula and sales of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs ) — played out more or less as MTD predicted.

The answer might surprise you. Two of Germany’s largest car makers stand to be immediate beneficiaries of a reduction in trade tensions between the United States and China. Currently, the United States exports more cars to China than China exports to the United States, and BMW AG and Daimler AG lead the way with their […]

2018 may be shaping up to be a transition year for China automobiles. It may be the year that marks the end of the industry’s nearly 20-year growth phase, and the beginning of a mature phase where vehicle sales grow in line with overall economic factors. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), […]

Having lived in China for most of the past 25 years, one question I’m frequently asked isIMG_3930: “What about the United States do you miss most?”

In June, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and its Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced that, as of July 28, the country’s “Negative List” of industries where foreign ownership is prohibited or restricted would be reduced from 63 to 48. Despite the fact that China formally opened to the outside world in 1978, foreign investors and […]

In what is turning out to be a very difficult year for China’s motor vehicle industry, one bright spot is the country’s truck industry.