Ford CEO traveled to China.

[edyvw]

I have two daughters in Engineering, one just started masters, one is Senior in Bachelors. They both tell me they know kids that graduated ahead of them that still don't have jobs - work at grocery store or whatever. I don't think there all going to investment houses for better pay. Having an internship is a big help (work experience) but there aren't very many of those around.

For example, we offer very competative internships, although I run only graduate programs. But, even people with experience go for internships.
My wife has three nephews in Chicago, all in engineering. The oldest finished sitting at home, playing video games. The middle one already had two internships. Finished one in Michigan, now doing a second for an oil company in Louisiana. Third is senior, who already has lined up internships. I cannot stress enough to students how important internships are. I had students doing 3 internships and had a guy who did not want to drive 20 miles to do an internship in NORAD because, too far. When I was doing my master if someone offered me an internship in NORAD, I would give my left kidney for it.

 

[edyvw]

Lotsa engineering talent comments here, for good reason. I added the lack of business grads; @edyvw mentioned business needs to lead in education to supply their demand in post # 73.
I suggest you review the following graph and consider the incredible influence, and importance, of disruptive innovation. Want a case in point? The early digital cameras were crappy. Want another? Teslas were only for rich California granola heads and would go belly up any day now.

And now ya tell me CEO Farley is shell shocked by his trip to China and a ride in one of their EVs?
It wasn't so long ago Henry disrupted the world with his Highland Park plant... Autos on an assembly line? Who'da thunk it?

View attachment 241104

I addressed that earlier. We are by far the most innovative nation. China cannot nor it will come close bcs. CCP. It is simple as that.
They can copy things, make them cheaper etc.
But what is happening with cheap EV's is not disruptive innovation, but making products cheap. EV's are far easier to copy, make them cheap. When EV's became a trend, we opened Pandora's box. Companies will have to adjust to that if they want to survive.

 

[Pablo]

It's virtually impossible for a country of 350M to compete against a labor pool of 2.8B (China and India combined).

work harder - not smarter!

 

[JeffKeryk]

I addressed that earlier. We are by far the most innovative nation. China cannot nor it will come close bcs. CCP. It is simple as that.
They can copy things, make them cheaper etc.
But what is happening with cheap EV's is not disruptive innovation, but making products cheap. EV's are far easier to copy, make them cheap. When EV's became a trend, we opened Pandora's box. Companies will have to adjust to that if they want to survive.

Nooooo. Ask CEO Blume. Ask CEO Farley.

I'm not sure you spoke of disruption. Tesla, your favorite company with your favorite CEO, is disruptive.
Disruptive innovation is different from innovation. That's the chart.

 

[edyvw]

Nooooo. Ask CEO Blume. Ask CEO Farley.

I'm not sure you spoke of disruption. Tesla, your favorite company with your favorite CEO, is disruptive.
Disruptive innovation is different from innovation. That's the chart.

Yes, I did speak of disruption.
EV are disruptive to industry. However, what is happening with China is same thing that happened to RCA etc. after TV production moved to Japan, Korea and now China.

(Also, no need to wink about people spreading nazi propaganda. Not funny!).

 

[Ws6]

I have zero interest in owning anything from China.

 

[SC Maintenance]

EV's are not disruptive. There just the same thing with a different fuel. Used for the same task. They have pluses and minuses, but provide the same function. Maybe they disrupt the manufacturing side at most.

Not like going from horse to engine, or smart phone, where you went from having nothing literally to having the whole world at your fingertip, or airplane where you cross the Atlantic in a few hours not 6 weeks, or internet where you send vast amounts of data instantly vs writing a letter or going to the library. Those were disruptive.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

work harder - not smarter!

Ya. I think I've mentioned it before. I have a cousin in the Bay Area who has had his own little operation for over a decade. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and told me years ago that they could hire 1000 EE's in China for the cost of 10 or 100 in the US.
Foreign labor is so inexpensive and is knowledge essentially free. I was just reading last week that the line workers in China are not making a lot of money and manufacturers are running on ridiculously thin margins because the govt is trying to keep as many people working.

 

[buster]

Don't forget India.....


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/news...U9VLc72xevjCuE-2bA_aem_7E9C-Z4pN_ukfYMfejm8CA

“… Weak economic data suggest the government has a far more pervasive crisis of confidence on its hands. Last month, consumption and investment weakened more than expected while industrial output marked its longest slowing streak since 2021. …”


Well, Xi Jinping had effective slaughtered China’s goose that laid the golden eggs. And now he has nothing better to offer.
So what had Xi Jinping personally contributed to China’s growth and prosperity over the past 13yrs of his reign?

 

[buster]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Te...395BxXuqTb1aalo8HQ_aem_sGSgm_7B7dkH9jdwBrjFQg

Even SK is attracting all the investments that were formerly destined for CCP Land. Investing in China is risky now, you’ll never know if employees would steal your IPs and manufacturing secrets. Or whether the CCP might suddenly arrest your employees on fabricated charges or bar them from leaving. These are all the strategic significant risks and insurmountable dangers that global MNCs faced China today. That’s why investors, governments and corporates would rather go elsewhere. And let Xi Jinping contend with rising unemployment, increased job losses, disappearing FDIs, higher costs of living, huge economic uncertainties with his 1.4b countrymen.


"China's Lenovo Group will start making artificial intelligence (AI) servers at its plant in southern India and opened an AI servers-focussed R&D lab in the tech hub of Bengaluru, the electronics hardware maker said on Tuesday."



https://www.reuters.com/technology/...QxX2GKjsavjkCzGPpQ_aem_yJ_mCAFp-wZf7XIA0e71NA

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

.... and had a guy who did not want to drive 20 miles to do an internship in NORAD because, too far. When I was doing my master if someone offered me an internship in NORAD, I would give my left kidney for it.

Go lord. What a moron that kid.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Don't forget India.....


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/news...U9VLc72xevjCuE-2bA_aem_7E9C-Z4pN_ukfYMfejm8CA

“… Weak economic data suggest the government has a far more pervasive crisis of confidence on its hands. Last month, consumption and investment weakened more than expected while industrial output marked its longest slowing streak since 2021. …”


Well, Xi Jinping had effective slaughtered China’s goose that laid the golden eggs. And now he has nothing better to offer.
So what had Xi Jinping personally contributed to China’s growth and prosperity over the past 13yrs of his reign?

China 10 year bond is at 2%. There basically where we were at in 2008 - balance sheet recession, no one wants more debt.

Big difference is there demographics are absolutely terrible, caused in general by industrialization and worsened by 1 child policy.

I don't think there is any way to reverse either at this point.

 

[edyvw]

Go lord. What a moron that kid.

You won’t believe what i see every day.

 

[SC Maintenance]

You won’t believe what i see every day.

If you think its bad now - just wait. My wife is a high school teacher - its only getting worse.

 

[edyvw]

If you think its bad now - just wait. My wife is a high school teacher - its only getting worse.

Ah don’t get me started on that. I thought American Government as PhD student in Alabama. Intro class, freshmen.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Ah don’t get me started on that. I thought American Government as PhD student in Alabama. Intro class, freshmen.

Your punishment will continue until you leave. No wonder you view Alabama so poorly.

Seems were not the only nation with such problems. Meet China's full time Children.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66172192

 

[edyvw]

Your punishment will continue until you leave. No wonder you view Alabama so poorly.

Seems were not the only nation with such problems. Meet China's full time Children.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66172192

That is not only a Chinese issue but is generally present in Asian cultures. South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates bcs. burnout, and yet, they want to introduce 6 work days.

 

[JeffKeryk]

EV's are not disruptive. There just the same thing with a different fuel. Used for the same task. They have pluses and minuses, but provide the same function. Maybe they disrupt the manufacturing side at most.

Not like going from horse to engine, or smart phone, where you went from having nothing literally to having the whole world at your fingertip, or airplane where you cross the Atlantic in a few hours not 6 weeks, or internet where you send vast amounts of data instantly vs writing a letter or going to the library. Those were disruptive.

Disagree; here's why. 1st, what is disruptive innovation? Calling it innovation is far too general.

Disruptive innovation is a process where a product, service, or business model starts at the bottom of a market and then moves upmarket, eventually displacing established competitors.

Every major car company is investing billions into EVs and are failing to see an ROI. So I am not sure they are "the same thing".
This thread is about CEO Farley's surprise at the China product as compared to Ford's. Ditto CEO Blume and others.

So many have minimized EV's impact; not to mention their very viability. They were wrong.
It is probably better to say, Tesla's EV surprising success is disruptive.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Disagree; here's why. 1st, what is disruptive innovation? Calling it innovation is far too general.

Disruptive innovation is a process where a product, service, or business model starts at the bottom of a market and then moves upmarket, eventually displacing established competitors.

Every major car company is investing billions into EVs and are failing to see a ROI. This thread is about CEO Farley's surprise at the China product as compared to Ford's. Ditto CEO Blume and others.

So many have minimized EV's impact; not to mention their very viability. They were wrong.

We will agree to disagree then. A car is a car from an overall market standpoint.

I’ve seen countless companies wander in and totally turn the supply chain upside down without disrupting the actual users / industry. By your example, Walmart was disruptive. It was in fact, disruptive for the suppliers, but consumers bought the same crap they just bought it from a different place.

Disruptive is when you change behavior / organization completely. Like when Word processors replaced typing pools.

 

[JeffKeryk]

We will agree to disagree then. A car is a car from an overall market standpoint.

I’ve seen countless companies wander in and totally turn the supply chain upside down without disrupting the actual users / industry. By your example, Walmart was disruptive. It was in fact, disruptive for the suppliers, but consumers bought the same crap they just bought it from a different place.

Disruptive is when you change behavior / organization completely. Like when Word processors replaced typing pools.

Yes, Walmart is a major disruptor. How many smaller stores go belly up when Wally World enters a community?
There are areas that will not let a Walmart or a Costco be put up as protection for the small local vendors.

Disruptive innovation speaks to affecting established competition.