Trying to understand here... I am assuming you mean towards China? We have pretty low tariffs in the UK already.
Not sure we have any colonial tropes about the Chinese these days. Of course, people are worried what China might do given that the system of government is different and there are attempts to spy on and hack western infrastructure.
But most of us just buy and use Chinese products and services, wish the average Chinese person well and enjoy the low prices and quality goods.
My comments are really aimed at trying to help MG UK improve, which is not about the Chinese at all - except where there are limits placed on what MG UK can do by SAIC. But I don't have any knowledge of those.
MG is operating in a market with lots of competitors who give western-style service and after-sales experience that they could learn from. If you are a British importer who wants to sell to the British, why not talk to the British to understand what good service means to them?
If MG doesn't want to sell cars here, there's loads of other brands we can choose from.
Not sure I really understand what you are driving at here.
I am just tired of the political bashing. Right now there's all this paranoia over the Chinese embassy. Disregarding the fact the US embassy is 4 times bigger. And it is approved by MI5! And the US is building literally a base as n embassy in Lebanon. Anyone who watches James Bond to read Le Carre know that all embassies are full of spooks. They call them military attaches.
It's also ironic about your suggestions. All of which is actually very sound. But you then say the political system in China is different so we have to be wary. You literally described the political structure in China. They have a national helpline 12345 which is accessible 24/7. You can complain about anything from cat litter to a hazardous manhole cover. The helpline will hunt down the relevant local authority responsible for fixing the problem and have to respond and address the complaint in 2-3 days. Mandated by law. The people including workers form feedback groups who then have representatives that represent them at the national CPC meetings. these are your customer feedback groups.
So I think it is in the "Chinese" system to implement that sort of customer service. As for software, if there are too many OTA updates, too much interaction from the manufacturer, we are going to get more scaremongering about how the Chinese can remote control our cars, know many times we go to the supermarket and blackmail us into CPC agents.
In all fairness, I don't disagree with your suggesttions. I think the major issue is MG. They were the first Chinese brand in the UK, during the time of cheap and cheerful and sell and forget. A bit like Ford still! BYD and the others arrive at a different time. When the new generation of more educated, affluent and globally aware consumers are in the market. The new marques arrive with a clearer sense of marketing rather than just being cheap. Still I mentioned the faux pas BYD had with the Euros.
The reviewer in the last post also talked about the poor sales volume. That for whatever reason didn't happen in Europe. The IMs are on back order. And finally they realise BYD is undercutting them aggressively and they have to respond with their finance deals. I think IM did well with organic marketing as the word was spread largely through online platforms and reviews. I didn't know about it until the launch reviews appeared on my Youtube feed.
I have yet to experience the MG customer service, but I am buying through the same dealership with my current car. With all the pros and cons. One thing I have to say, is that I didn't have any major issues with the 2 cars I bought from them. They are not the most competitive on price. But they never gave me reason to have to deal to customer service. So touch wood!
Not sure, if I ask the car for Spotify it goes straight to it, I only have to press the right wheel and ask Siri if I want to play Spotify via the phone. ( it plays back in so much beeper quality than the radio !)
Exactly. You have to ask Siri. For AA it's "Google". The button to toggle for voice command also defaults to AA when connected, overriding the car's own (practically useless on my current car for navigation!) voice commands.
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