cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7083507

Recorded live at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation's the Merge 2025, this episode features Michael Dunne, one of the most respected global analysts on the Chinese auto industry. From his vantage point tracking China for decades, Dunne delivers a blunt assessment: the biggest issue facing the auto industry today isn’t EVs, autonomy, or affordability—it’s China, at a scale most Americans still don’t fully see.

Dunne explains how Chinese automakers have gone from exporting one million vehicles to eight million in just five years, why 70% of those exports aren’t EVs, and how China is overwhelming markets across Europe, Asia, and the developing world. He warns that this moment is fundamentally different from Japan or Korea, calling it “15 Japans at once,” and argues that without coordination among allies, faster decision-making, and a complete rethink of cost, scale, and R&D, the U.S. risks falling behind faster than most leaders expect.