When you think about it, the MGs we have are either overly expensive or the closest sized models by the Koreans and Japanese are grossly under priced.
I threw in Thailand as we often say that what we get from there is grossly overpriced and the figures seem to back that thinking.
While the old adage of "the Chinese work for a bowl of rice a day" is far from the truth these days their average income and standard of living is still way, way below their Asian competition.
Gross domestic product (at purchasing power parity) per capita. The GDP (PPP) per capita is often considered one of the indicators of a country's standard of living.
China: $17,206
Korea: $44,292
Japan: $41,637
Thailand: $18,073
Australia: $50,845
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...PP)_per_capita
Their standard of living costs are less than half that of Japan and Korea yet their cars are only say 15-20% lower.
We can assume that the Japanese and Korean plants have a greater deal of automation (costing more up front) and that China will take advantage of their much lower cost of labour to save on the robotics and do more things by hand.
If you look at average income per country:
China: Doesn't even make the top 35 list so less than $16k
Korea: $40,856
Japan: $40,573
Thailand: Doesn't even make the top 35 list so less than $16k
Australia: $53,349
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...y_average_wage
Even at bargain basement prices they are probably making a very tidy profit on each car.
Throw in lax environmental and waste management rules, a workforce that works without complaint 60 hrs a week, and the huge government support and subsidies their manufacturers get its not at all surprising that they can undercut the competition.
They may be 95% as good as the rest, but for a 20% discount people are happy to take the gamble.
In 4-5 years when they start selling their next wave of models they will be 98% as good as their competition due to more investment in automation and and still be 15-20% cheaper than the rest.
If any manufacturer has a hope of competing with China they need to get manufacturing going in India or Philippines.