The Chinese are involved in the land speed record

[Barry]

Who's laughing at Geely now?

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motorsport/bloodhound-ssc-land-speed-record-gets-go-ahead-geely-confirms-sponsorship

[treks]

There is something distinctly creepy about this marriage between Volvo and Geely...

I will bet money on it that Geely will eventually drag Volvo down to Chinese "standards", instead of aspiring to reach Swedish sophistication. There might just be something to the Americans' view that Chinese cars are unsafe and unreliable, which is why they don't allow them on American soil.

Edited October 11, 2016 by treks

[Barry]

Really? Chinese cars aren't allowed in America? That's something I didn't know. 

I know a couple of guys in the U.K. who bought Great Wall pickups and they seem to swear by them. They've have no major issues in 4 years of ownership.

Chinese cars have a stigma attached to them. I wonder if it's going to be the same as Japanese cars in the late 70s/early 80s where everyone used to laugh at them and now they're one of the. Invest car manufacturing nations in the world. Also Korea with brands like Hyundai and Kia that were once a laughing stock in the 90s and are now producing some of the most popular cars on the road  

Personally, I have no problem with Chinese products. When you look at some of the smartphones they are producing, Huawei, Oppo etc. A few years ago they were unknown and now they're becoming market leaders. Then on the other hand you have a Korean brand like Samsung who were supposed to be one of the biggest and have just recalled 2.5 million phones that were randomly catching fire then replaced them with an updated model that also caught fire. 

I say give the Chinese a chance. 

[DiamondDallas]

Have you seen a Geely yet @Barry amazing car. I was shocked to see the safety features . Interior was amazing.  12 airbags. Heavy Doors they also have another called CHANG (hope spelled correctly) but being Chinese I am bit hesitant to Buy 1. Cheap for Luxury they Offer. 

Edited October 12, 2016 by DiamondDallas

[Barry]

The first time I saw one of the bigger geelys I had to walk around the back to check the badge. I couldn't believe it was Chinese. In 3-4 years when they have been on the road for a while we will see what they are really like. 

[Rahimdad]

I am not a big fan of Chinese Cars right now, Most of my stuff is from Dragon mart so don't get me wrong.

Right now I see Chinese cars and they look like cheap copies of say a Rav 4 or Camry, X-Terra or many other popular Japanese popular models. However, I did give them a chance and tried to inquire about the one with AWR Al Rostamani that looks like a cheap version for the X-Terra, ZNA which is a partner company with Nissan. It was very heavy and had a very small engine so felt very sluggish. I am still willing to give them a chance to grow and produce better cars, but until than I am just going to watch them from a distance.

BTW the new car from Geely the GX2 is way too cute, looks like a pint sized 4x4.

[treks]

I spend a lot of time in Southern Africa, (South Africa in fact) where I still own a car repair shop that I visit from time to time, and I have seen the worst of Chinese cars there. I have seen them all, Geely, GWM, Chana, and a few others, and in my  opinion as a professional mechanic, Chinese cars are among the worst vehicles in the world.

Shoddy assembly, atrocious build quality, barely functioning electronics, and OBD II systems that date from the early 90's are the primary reasons why these vehicles cannot be imported into in the US.

@Barry mentions GWM: This is a collection of various parts from Isuzu, Nissan, Toyota and other out-of-western-production pick-up trucks that manages to lose the best qualities of each donor brand with the result that nothing works as designed.

There are other examples of the Chinese trying to resuscitate obsolete models and technologies, but I think I have made my point. Nonetheless,   some of the US regulations have been relaxed, so some of the later Chinese models may be allowed there soon.

@Barryis right about Korean cars though. When they first appeared in the West, all mechanics thought that they have seen the worst the world has to offer, but all of them, myself included, had been proven wrong- which I am happy to admit.

[DiamondDallas]

2 hours ago, Rahimdad said:

I am not a big fan of Chinese Cars right now, Most of my stuff is from Dragon mart so don't get me wrong.

Right now I see Chinese cars and they look like cheap copies of say a Rav 4 or Camry, X-Terra or many other popular Japanese popular models. However, I did give them a chance and tried to inquire about the one with AWR Al Rostamani that looks like a cheap version for the X-Terra, ZNA which is a partner company with Nissan. It was very heavy and had a very small engine so felt very sluggish. I am still willing to give them a chance to grow and produce better cars, but until than I am just going to watch them from a distance.

BTW the new car from Geely the GX2 is way too cute, looks like a pint sized 4x4.

Cheryl Not a good Car. Geely is something really different. 

[taqir]

Back to the OP topic, bloodhound is good to be school text book project, that they have done little coverage last year and earlier this year but nothing that can be really realized IMHO. 

Volvo and Geely both are heavily deprived brand that want to get their name associated with this project so that their name can ring some bells to end user and they may be able to persuade to sell by using tagline of "fastest land speed car in the world".

[Rahimdad]

Just like Pajero used highly modified Pajeros to win the Dakar Rally 7 times in a row to set a frenzy of people buying Pajeros for Off-Road purpose. Although not as modded as the Pajero used in the Dakar Rally, but that gave them a good blueprint to work with and outcome is a very capable and affordable option along with comfort for both on-road and off-road purpose.