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The car business is in flux. Volkswagen Group is talking about possibly shutting down four factories in Germany. In China, new car sales are not as wildly robust as they were a few short years ago, having experienced only a 4.8 percent growth rate recently compared to many years of double-digit increases. Worldwide, the only countries where sales are increasing are those in which owning a private automobile was little more than a dream until recently.
Some two decades ago, US and European manufactures flocked to China, which was emerging from the dark times of the Cultural Revolution to become one of the fastest growing economies in history. But China did something unique. Instead of allowing foreign companies to build factories there, it mandated that they enter into joint ventures with domestic corporations. That way, a transfer of knowledge was created, and — boy, howdy! — did the Chinese leverage that aspect for all it was worth.
