China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry has reached a critical turning point, producing cars that rival or surpass those made in the West, at a fraction of the cost, according to a stark warning from former General Motors executive Michael Dunne.
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Dunne paints a sobering picture, that Chinese EVs, particularly those from automakers like BYD, are now as technologically advanced and reliable as Teslas or other Western models, but cost nearly one-third as much.
“China has overtaken Detroit as the center of the global auto industry,” Dunne writes. “If Chinese cars were sold in the U.S., they might wipe out automakers here.”
The implications are severe. Dunne says U.S. automakers face an existential threat unless the country embarks on an “all-out push” to rebuild world-class manufacturing and supply chains. Otherwise, American companies risk retreating into protective tariffs, clinging to gas-powered vehicles, and ultimately “fading into irrelevance.”
Dunne attributes much of China’s success to aggressive state intervention. Over the last decade, Beijing has reportedly funneled billions into EV leaders like BYD. “This is state capitalism at work,” Dunne notes. “Americans can complain about it all they want, but China isn’t going to scrap this model just because we don’t like it.”
He argues that the U.S. must reconsider its own industrial strategy. While a state-led approach may be politically difficult in Washington, Dunne warns that conventional free-market thinking may no longer be sufficient. “America has never confronted an industrial competitor like China.”
The op-ed serves as both a critique of American inaction and a call to arms: adapt or risk losing one of the nation’s most iconic industries.
Shongjog 