Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry - Hardcover

An in-depth look at the Chinese car industry that sheds new light on the delicate nature of China's planned economy China's unprecedented growth over the last three decades, along with the recent financial crisis in the West, has raised questions about the superiority of state-led capitalism. In Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry, G.E. Anderson, a specialist in finance and Chinese political economics, uses the auto industry to examine how China's industrial planning works, and explores whether state involvement in the economy really is a winning formula for sustainable growth. Bringing to light the strengths and weaknesses that define the Chinese economy, Anderson finds that in some ways the government has become its own worst enemy, unable to choose between industrial competitiveness and social stability. While the economy is booming now, evidence suggests that long-term success is far from assured. Tracing the evolution of the post-Mao auto industry through thirteen case studies, Designated Drivers raises the difficult questions about the future of China that few people have dared to ask. Offers a unique insight into the Chinese economy through the lens of the auto industry Explores how successful the central government has been in spurring economic growth and the long-terms costs of intervention Uses case studies to illustrate China's explosive growth over the last three decades A painstakingly researched analysis of the Chinese automobile industry, Designated Drivers explains the risks and rewards inherent in doing business in China that anyone interested in, or already working there need to understand.

Praise for Designated Drivers

"China routinely launches new satellites into space. But the country has yet to develop a world-class car to call its own. This frustrates leaders in Beijing to no end. They want China to be the car factory for the world, yet cannot work around their own deeply contradictory policies. Greg Anderson expertly presents these complications in this highly compelling and finely researched book. If your business is China and autos, Designated Drivers is an indispensable guide to how the car business is shaped in the People's Republic of China."—Michael Dunne, President, Dunne & Company Ltd., and author of American Wheels, Chinese Roads

"In Designated Drivers, Greg Anderson manages to make sense of the complexity and contradictions of the Chinese automobile industry. Anderson is the first to capture the torturous three-way relationship among foreign multinationals, China's increasingly nationalistic industrial planners, and the ambitious and (sort of) independent Chinese carmakers. Anderson is an excellent storyteller, yet has his feet firmly planted on solid analytic ground. Highly recommended as an absorbing tale that provides real insight into the latest Chinese industrial heavyweights."—Barry Naughton, Professor of Chinese Economy and Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs, University of California, San Diego

"China has become the center stage in the battle for dominance of the twenty-first-century global auto industry, and Greg Anderson distinguishes himself by providing a practical guide for navigating its complex structure. This book is essential reading for multinational companies seeking to compete in the largest automotive market in the world."—Bill Russo, President and CEO, Synergistics Ltd.

"More than a thorough accounting of China's automotive ambitions, Designated Drivers is a primer on the quintessential challenge China presents to the West across every sector: understanding the logic and forces at play in China's drive for national wealth and security. In tracking the motives and behavior of regulators and planners, locally and centrally controlled enterprises, banks, privately owned companies, and, of course, the foreign companies doing business in China, Anderson's book establishes the archetype for understanding Chinese industrial policy and how it affects all of us."—Janet Carmosky, CEO, The China Business Network

"CEOs, CFOs, and company boards will particularly like Designated Drivers because it gives real insights into how the Chinese government formulates industrial policy. This is what makes it special; it gives an inside-out view from the Chinese government perspective. If Western companies had this kind of information before going to China, they would literally save millions!"—Paul Denlinger, China start-up guy and publisher, chinavortex.com