Chinese “Bentley” to debut next year, priced at $662,244

More expensive than a Rolls-Royce Phantom + 100X cheaper build quality + Zero prestige????? Nobody but the Chinese government will pay more for this crap.

The RR Phantom costs $1.3M in China, close to double the cost of the Hongqi or whatever its called. Every party leader starting from Mao himself used predecessors from FAW - prestige is NOT an issue.

Kinda reminds me when Clinton wanted to trade in his Caddy to a Lincoln (never happened). Still, I don't think a lot of people envy Bubbya for his ride either.

I'm sure there will be many nasty comments about this vehicle, but everyone is missing the point - which is the trend. Every few years the Chinese vehicles will get much better styling, better reliability, better driving dynamics and better value. OK so today they are not up with the best of the Europeans, but the real questions are:

(i.) How far behind are they, and how much do customers care
(ii.) How fast are they catching up
(iii.) What segments of the market can they dominate - and which brands are vulnerable [my guesses for some potential candidates: Kia, Suzuki, Ford, Pontiac, VW, Fiat]

The only good part is that it will be sold directly by the manufacturer. I have never found dealers to add any value to the sales process. Too many of them just make it more difficult for cutomers to do business. All cars should be sold directly by the factory over the Internet and delivered directly from the factory to your house by enclosed transport truck. This would eliminate the frustrating negotiation process and prevent dealers from ripping customers off with phoney charges and even doing things like charging extra for equipment that is standard. All incentives should be factory-to-consumer directly. Some dealers do not disclose factory to dealer incentives and never pass those savings on. If factory dealerships require too much scarce capital on the part of car manufacturers then the customer buying the vehicle from the factory over the internet could simply designate a dealer who would receive a small fully disclosed commission. The only real value that dealers contribute to the car ownership experience is in the service end and I don't mind paying for repair and maintenance.

What a waste of resources. So the Chinese have gotten into this whole car building thing and now they feel they need to create a car that rivals Bentley and Rolls Royce? All Chinese cars we've seen so far have had poor safety and quality standards. Furthermore buyers in the $100K+ class care about heritage and prestige: you buy a car for what it stands for. This Hongqi junk has no heritage (certainly no prestige) and if we follow the current logic, poor quality and safety features. It wouldn't surprise me if they interior was taken straight out from a 1980s Kia.

Yikes. I would hate to be a senior level Chinese government official.

This is what I call screwing your own people. They produce junk and make their country pay for it, what a bunch of crap!!

the chinese arent dump
THEY Wont Sale a Junk for $600k+
IT WILL BE A VERY INTERESTING CAR

*sell

ahsingkk, stop being stupid bro, are you serious a $600,000+ U.S. dollar for a chinese car??? with that kind of money you can get a Bentley Continental GT, Lambo Gallardo, Ferrari F430 and a Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

What retard would that paid much for a Chinese car???If it was a car from Italy, England or a the German, Lexus, than maybe I will consider it.

Since when is "Lexus" a country?

Actually many of you here dont know the Chinese. Trust me you get what you pay for. But the problem is they only export their cheap stuff because thats what people buy the most. I dont have any doubt that they can built a Bentley competitor and be very competitive.

If you go to China for business you'll know what I mean. Just ask them to make anything top quality, buy it and you will see all the difference, you will see the other face of China. It will come at a price though, still cheaper than the famous brands.

Does it poison the passengers while they drive, or is that reserved only for the eventual U.S.-bound model. Screw China, their currency policy, crappy human rights record, 1910-era pollution spewing, freeway ramps with multiple-inch gaps and all their low quality, dumped garbage.

Oops. Almost forgot their protectionist import tariffs, bogus stock market and rampant patent, copyright and trademark theft.

You need to get a clue about China... maybe give it a visit.

Is this a joke?

maximize


and the middlemen, btw, include corporations like WalMart.

The whole reason they are buliding this car is for the Olympics.

Plenty of dignitaries are going to show up and China wants to cheaufer them around in a domestically made super product. I do not doubt slightly that they will throw tons of money into this and have the first production vehicle off the line by march. It will look phenomenal, have a great interior and (if they are smart) have a quiet cab ride and suspension. Where I see it failing is the motor, safety features, reliability and chassis charateristics.

Remenber, each counties ruling dignitaries have to travel in their country's domestically produced vehicles (in large). Not everyone can be the US, Germany, England (although we all know what car Tony bought),Italy or Japan. The French have to drive a Citroen and the Russians...well I don't even want to think of that POS car Vladimir Putin has to ride in.

So it makes sense for China to build for its market. As for the rest of the world...I'm sure Rolls, Bently and MB are still taking orders.

me earlier:

"maximize


"and the middlemen, btw, include corporations like WalMart."


the post to which this was appended got deleted. guess what i said about the chinese being misrepresented, and walmart, were politically incorrect.