I am sure many would say yes, but there’s a catch.
The Toyota BZ3X Starts at About $15,000
The Wall Street Journal discussed What a $15,000 Electric SUV Says About U.S.-China Car Rivalry
The offer sounds like a scam—a new Toyota electric-powered sport-utility vehicle for about $15,000, complete with sunroof and cup holders.
But the Toyota bZ3X is real, and it is actually on sale starting at that price. There is a catch: To buy one, you have to be in China.
“There is no such thing as a world car anymore,” said Jürgen Reers, global lead for the automotive business at Accenture.
For an American used to a $50,000 gasoline-powered SUV as the standard family choice, the Chinese market is hardly recognizable.
A majority of new vehicles sold in China are either fully electric or plug-in hybrids, and a look around the recent auto show in Shanghai showed that local makers have mostly stopped introducing new gasoline-powered models. In the U.S., by contrast, the traditional combustion engine still powers about eight in 10 new vehicles.
Most Chinese buyers these days are buying a local brand. Some, such as BYD, have begun to gain international recognition, but the malls are filled with dealers that offer brands virtually unknown abroad—Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Aion, Aito and many more.
The price difference is overwhelming. Chinese car buyers no longer need to debate whether an EV can be made affordable, not when a decent starter model costs $10,000 and a luxury seven-seater with reclining massage chairs can be had for $50,000. Because of customer demand, even the low-end models come with advanced driver-assistance software.
Tesla has two models widely available—Model 3 and Model Y—and both have been on the market for years. China’s BYD has about 25 models, according to the market-analysis firm Inovev, and is constantly introducing more.
Tesla’s sales in China in the first quarter were slightly up at around 135,000, but its market share has plateaued at around 3%.
Toyota said its bZ3X—the recently introduced model that starts at $15,000—was designed in China by the company’s engineers in the country, who worked with a local joint-venture partner. It is made in Guangzhou with Chinese batteries and driver-assistance software from Momenta, a Chinese leader in that field.
“This couldn’t happen without a Chinese supply chain,” said Masahiko Maeda, head of Toyota’s Asia business. “Unless you localize, it’s out of the question.”
A Toyota spokesman said the company received 15,000 orders on the first day the bZ3X went on sale in China in March, more than expected. Many buyers are choosing to spend a few thousand dollars extra to get more advanced driver-assistance functions, he said.
Maeda said the U.S. has a “costly supply chain,” meaning Toyota’s U.S. showrooms won’t be selling a $15,000 electric SUV soon. The closest equivalent, a slightly longer model called the bZ4X, starts at around $40,000 in the U.S.
People in the industry say that thanks to China’s supply chain, it is still possible to make money on a $15,000 vehicle. BYD, the leader in that price range, said its first-quarter profit doubled to more than $1 billion.
The Detroit three automakers—General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis’s U.S. arm—are settling into niches in China. U.S. brands collectively had a 5.7% market share in China in the first quarter of this year, according to the China Passenger Car Association, down from 8.5% three years ago.
Almost all of the U.S.-branded vehicles sold in China are Chinese-made, taking advantage of the country’s supply chain. Imports from the U.S. are minuscule as a proportion of the total market.
Pay More – Get Less
That is Trump’s unofficial motto as well as the UAW and Teamsters.
The BZ3X would be a hot seller in the US at $15,000 or even $20,000.
But Trump wants you to to pay more. His 145 percent tariff that would price the car at $37,000 or so.
Losers and Winners
- Winners: The UAW has over 400,000 active members. The more you pay for a car, the happier they are. Dealers are also happy.
- Losers: Anyone buying a car, leasing a car, or paying insurance on a car.
Winning Big!
Trump wants you to pay more for clothes, bicycles, shoes, lawn mowers, iPhones, and literally everything.
Paying more and getting less is what Trump calls “winning big”.
Manufacturing Greatness in Pictures
In addition to tiny screws requiring an army of millions, it has also proven difficult to automate some clothing goods.
The above image is from the following You-Tube video.
If only we could bring these jobs back to the US, we could compete with Vietnam.
Great Video on Good Manufacturing Jobs
Here’s another great video on “Good Manufacturing Jobs” are coming back from Vietnam.
It’s only 32 seconds long.
What If?
Just imagine the greatness of doubling manufacturing employment from 12.7 million to 25.4 million.
That would pass previous peak greatness of June 1979 at 19.5 million. Wow.
And then we would have manufacturing employment of 25.4 million out of total employment of 163.9 million, about 15 percent.
Some of long for even better greatness. So do I.
I am hoping we go back to a time when 9 out of 10 worked on a farm. Wouldn’t that be amazing!
An Era Gone By
Greatness has moved from farming to manufacturing to chip design, services, and AI.
Trump longs for an era gone by, never to return again.
His measure of success is still millions of people working like the Vietnamese in the videos above.
If manufacturing ever returns to the US again, it will be via fully automated robots. Employment will plunge.
The future of manufacturing employment is bleak.
Irony of the Year
Trump wants to be more like Vietnam just as Vietnam hopes to lift its society up to where the US was 40 years ago.
And to go backward, Trump wants everyone to pay more to get less.
Trump finds it easy to get the economically clueless on his side with chants of “They are stealing out jobs; they are ripping us off; and it’s unfair trade”.
Trump never asks, would you like a $15,000 EV Toyota
Related Posts
April 14, 2025: Trump’s Plan to Make Manufacturing Great Again in Pictures
The share of manufacturing employment keeps declining. What role did NAFTA play?
May 3, 2025: Amazon’s Amazing Rise in Package Delivery and 20,000 UPS Layoffs
Since 2014, Amazon has gone from 0% to 28% of package delivery.
Also note Consumers Face End of De Minimis Tariff Exemptions on $800 Packages
The trade provision that allows consumers and resellers to avoid duties on shipments worth $800 or less is ending for products made in China.
Hooray!? 40% to 100% Higher Prices
Who wants that? (Exclusions for cultist parrots who cannot think).
The idea we are going to bring shoe or clothes manufacturing back to the US (or that we would like the price result if we did) is of course ludicrous.