U.S. Senators ask Obama to stop China from stealing American EV secrets

[wtmusic]

"Last September, a report in the Wall Street Journal claimed that the Chinese government intends to force foreign automakers to divulge their plug-in vehicle technology secrets in order to sell their vehicles in China. Apparently, China is looking to become a global power in the plug-in vehicle segment and might achieve that goal by utilizing technology developed by others.

Well, that doesn't sit well with Michigan's two U.S. Senators, who have both urged the Obama administration to prevent China from requiring automakers to dole out their advanced vehicle technology secrets. Democrats Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow want the U.S. Trade Representative to step in and block Chinese regulations on plug-in vehicles and other auto-related technologies. According to the Detroit News, the Senators say that the regulations could "prevent U.S. automakers from accessing the Chinese market."

On April 22nd, China's new-energy vehicles plan, which supposedly contains info on foreign automakers and the divulging of plug-in technology secrets, was submitted to the country's State Council for final approval."

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/05/u-s-senators-ask-obama-to-stop-china-from-stealing-american-ev/

[madokie]

1. rec #5

[nilram]

2. kick #2

When my company sold one copy of our software to Shanghai or Hong Kong, we figured we had the Chinese market covered.

[The Northerner]

3. As much as I disagree with the proposal, I believe we must respect the foreign sovereignty

of China and allow them to manage their own domestic affairs.

It'll certainly be a conundrum for US automakers who want to do business in China: they'll either divulge their secrets or not receive access to the Chinese market.

[Nihil]

4. From the bleating in that article, can one conclude that the US manufacturers ...

... have somehow managed to saturate the US market with EVs and are
now having to expand into China?

:shrug:

[wtmusic]

5. There have only been about 1,000 Chevy Volts sold

and sales are remaining fairly steady. Not saturated yet, but the idea that many more are willing to shell out $40K+ for a vehicle with not-great looks or performance is questionable.

Chevy no doubt wants to expand into China, but having to turning over their technology would make it pretty futile anyway.