China built its automotive expertise on enforced partnerships with foreign brands. The reward for global car makers was market access and billions in profits. But it came at a long-term price: those once humble manufacturing partners have become some of their toughest competitors globally.
Now global car makers are seeking help from the same Chinese partners as they scrabble to reduce costs and lift technology to the new Chinese standard. There’s one key difference, though: today’s partnerships have a lighter touch than the old industrial tie-ups mandated all those years ago in China.
