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How China Won the Car Industry

July 23, 2026 · 54 min

Show notes

After spending decades as marginal players in the global auto industry, Chinese carmakers have become the world’s biggest exporters of cars. Chinese cars are some of the best cars on the planet, and they’re available almost everywhere – except in the US.

Michael Dunne is the CEO of Dunne Insights, a company that consults on the future of cars. Michael has been working with the Chinese auto industry since 1990. I talked with Michael about how China did it. The problem we discussed was: How can the United States catch up with the Chinese auto industry?

In this episode, Michael explains: 

  • How China went from making terrible cars in 1990 to dominating global exports today
  • Why China bet big on electric vehicles when nobody wanted them
  • How Tesla's arrival in China revolutionized their EV industry 
  • Why losing the car industry would be a national security problem for the US
  • Why the future of a successful American auto industry is on the West Coast

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