China is now the world's No. 2 economy. We are still No. 1 and will probably be so for a decade or two.
China is No. 1 for cars, already ahead of the U.S. Think about this: China has about four automobiles for every 1,000 citizens. The U.S. has about 800 autos for every 1,000 people. Where do you think demand will be greatest?
Having written that, all is not lost. The average car here is about 8 years old — there's pent-up demand here, too. By all accounts, Ford is humming along well and just repaid $7 billion of debt. GM is doing better, although the government still owns a chunk.
Chrysler still seems pretty much in the woods. I have a Chrysler 300C and a bumper-to-bumper 100,000-mile warranty. If Chrysler dies and then my car breaks down, given the government investment in Chrysler, do I take it to the post office for repairs or directly to Congress? I have faith — if only Fiat can get Chrysler some new offerings with good mileage.
