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Filed under: New York Auto Show, China, Shanghai Motor Show

Shanghai Struts its Stuff – Challenging the Big Apple
2011 Shanghai Motor Show entrance

Barely two decades ago, China’s roads were ruled by bicycles, motorbikes and buses.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the Shanghai Convention Center was little more than a rice paddy, but this week, the sprawling facility will play host to what has rapidly become one of the world’s most important auto shows.

By a quirk of the calendar, this year’s big Chinese car show not only overlaps but threatens to overwhelm the New York Auto Show and its ability to garner valuable media time – a development that echoes the rapidly transformation occurring in the global automotive business.

Michael Dunne, the founder of Automotive Resources Asia – today a part of J.D. Power and Associates – recalls his first trip to China, barely two decades ago, when the roads were ruled by bicycles, motorbikes and buses, and the sight of an automobile was enough to draw everyone’s attention. Today, the most populous nation on Earth is also the biggest automotive market, having surpassed the U.S. two years ago, never to look back.

Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com, and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.

[Image: Philippe Lopez/Getty]

Continue reading Opinion: Shanghai Motor Show threatens to make New York redundant

Opinion: Shanghai Motor Show threatens to make New York redundant originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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United Auto Workers president Bob King wants to reverse the UAW’s eroding course, and one of the best ways to strengthen its position is through increased membership. The Detroit News reports that King and company are looking to bring the power of one to the nearest transplant automaker producing vehicles in the U.S. King says that he wants foreign automakers to know that the UAW has learned from past mistakes and that the rank and file is not “the evil empire.” Good to know, right? Well…

After King informed the transplants that the dark side has no power over the UAW, he then went on to tell automaker management at Toyota and Honda that efforts to block the right to fair bargaining will be branded “human rights violators.” King reportedly went on to accuse some transplants of spending millions to keep unions out of plants, adding “I would not want to be a company that was branded as a human rights violator.” And what happens if the UAW feels the automakers are continuing to block workers’ rights to vote for or against the right to organize? King says the next step is to stage global protests that could cost automakers “hundreds of millions of dollars” to combat.

[Source: Detroit News | Image: Paul Sancya/AP]

Report: UAW’s King threatens to expose carmakers who avoid unions as “human rights violators” originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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