China Daily Global Edition (USA)
A car’s value is usually in the eye behind the wheel
AChevrolet Camaro cruised into the news last week when US President Donald Trump said that the midrange sports car sells for $119,000 in China due to Chinese tariffs and taxes.
“When we make a car, we sell it into China, and there’s a 25 percent tariff, and that’s just the beginning. It’s all taxes and taxes and taxes. We can’t do that anymore,” Trump said at a rally last Tuesday in West Virginia.
Bloomberg.com followed up the president’s claim on Wednesday with an analysis that the coupe’s sticker price in China is half that.
There’s only one Camaro model available in China, with a 2.0-liter turbo engine, according to General Motors, and it sells for 399,900 yuan (or $58,430).
A similar Camaro in the US goes for around $26,000.
To me, both prices are cause for sticker shock.
In 1984, with some help from my parents, I financed a new Camaro for $10,600 at the sprawling Reedman auto dealership in Pennsylvania.
While that manufacturer’s suggested retail price may not seem like much money by today’s standards, the Camaro of that era lacked the legendary muscle car’s bravado.
If it were, say, a 1968 Camaro Rally Sport or Super Sport with a V-8 engine with 300-plus horsepower, then you’re talking about a desirable, valuable car.
The metallic charcoal-gray ’84 coupe looked kind of sleek, but it didn’t ride very tight. It also had a little too many plastic accents and a low-slung hood. This was in the pre-airbag days, so that type of front end would not fare too well in a collision.
The 1980s also were a time when Americans had become accustomed to long lines for gasoline, so fuel economy as well as emissions standards were becoming major concerns.
At the same time, the US auto industry was slumping, and Japanese cars were making major inroads into the US market. Japan’s Datsun (now Nissan) 280-Z was a hot car in that era. Many Americans also had adopted a mindset that foreign cars were superior, which took decades for Detroit to reverse.
GM stopped making Camaros after the 2002 model, but brought it back for 2010. In recent years, Chevy also has restored the Camaro’s hot-rod look (albeit with less chrome and gas-guzzling gusto), that had made the car so desirable.
Ford has taken a similar approach with its Mustang, the Camaro’s longtime rival.
In addressing foreign duties on US cars, Trump has floated a tariff of 25 percent on imported autos, prompting protests from General Motors. That’s because GM’s Buick division manufactures its Envision crossover SUV in China and sells it both there and in the US.
Sure, tariffs affect global auto supply and demand, but perhaps the price ultimately is determined by how much a driver wants to sit behind the wheel of a car that will turn heads as it roars by.