[bf1983]

I will never buy the mg hector. Not because I am patriotic or anything but because I can't afford it

I am not very fond of Chinese products though and I will definitely be wary about buying a chinese branded car. But I don't feel its unpatriotic to consider buying a chinese car.

[Biraj]

And, I thought these sentiments of hyper-nationalism or false patriotism are restricted only to Whatsapp.

China is gradually becoming a significant player in medical devices. So what next? We refuse pacemakers or other devices because of where it's made? I find it quite absurd when people talk about boycotting and all in this day and age.

About MG/SAIC - we should check the number of jobs they have added or the economy their plant/dealerships support in and around their location to measure the positive impact of their entry.

Yes, there's a threat of Chinese domination in our auto market due to their predatory business practices and the local brands might be at risk of losing that battle. It's a similar problem as local traders have with Amazon. The Indian brands need to be a step ahead with their strategy and plans instead of riding on a patriotism bogey.

[SanScorpio]

The Chinese themselves prefer foreign brands, the local cars are meant for those who cannot afford the foreign brands. So though i dont attach patriotic feelings to the car, would be very vary of the quality of the the cars.

[wrongturn]

Originally Posted by KMT

A car is a representation of a ones personality, it says something about you. This is particularly applicable to members of this forum.

With a car you are wearing your heart on your sleeve.

If SAIC-Wuling launched the SIAC Baojun 530 it would have had only limited success, primarily due to country of origin and quality perceptions in India.

But does slapping on an anglacised MG sticker cleanse it of its Chinese roots in the eyes of (a) an average Indian carbuyer and (b) in the eyes of an Indian petrolhead.

In the case of a country which is openly condescending and nasty to India and actively sells arms to our enemies should we sell out to the cheapest/most VFM product?

Does GST and import duty wash all that away?

SIAC are promoting MG as a UK brand because they are afraid that Indians might not accept a chinese car brand because of either perception or because of all those bad things china has done to us. But, going by the opinions of this poll they might publish a full front page ad in all major newspapers tomorrow saying proudly that MG is chinese, straight in our face and it would still not matter to us and we will happily buy the VFM chinese cars while the world laughs at us, cause after all:
1. patriotism should remain limited to whatsapp group
2. it should me measured by the actions of people pretending to be patriotic.
3. comparisons should be made about the level of patriotism amongst each other, and because no one is perfectly patriotic we should not be patriotic at all.
4. because we anyways use chinese products, what's wrong with driving a chinese car.

One answer to all the above questions is: Choice.

1. Don't judge others on the paramenters of patriotism, just make your own honest effort as an individual. It's a choice not a punishment.
2. What others are doing are there own problem, why should it influence your actions towards any cause.
3. Nothing is perfect in this universe, life is all about the choices you make and if we are all known as and identified as Indians in this world, try to put India first in your choices.
4. There is a difference in 'need' and 'want'. You may definitely use a product you need, like life saving medical devices but when it's about what you want like cars and if choices are present like there are, atleast choose a worthy one.

Remember the 'hindi-chini bhai bhai' (Indians and chinese are brothers) slogans, and they gifted us the war of 1962. A large portion of our nation is still under illegal chinese occupation. China is anti-India, it has proved the same by it's actions very clearly and the world knows it, but we just would ignore that fact because maybe our sense of patriotism or national pride died during the brutal 200 years of british rule, where our only basic instinct was to remain alive by any means necessary. So even today, for some of us the word Indian doesn't hold any ounce of pride infact some are ashamed of being called Indian.

About use of other chinese products like mobile phones, well we never had a choice at first, but now times are changing, like Samsung's building it's largest production plant here, iPhones will be made in India, and the make in India tag you see on almost all mobile phones instead of made in china.

I am not saying let's boycott british products because of what they did to us in the past, but how can we overlook the present? How can you own a chinese car with any sense of pride? Some are ashamed of owning Indian cars, so it might be perfectly natural to them.
China is at war with us, it's a sort of cold war going between the two nations since past 60 years. China supports pakistan, and aids it in it's actions against India, provides means of warfare to it including fighter aircrafts. Thousands of attempts of intrusions have happened since 1990 on India-china border. It's a bigger threat than pakistan, but why should we care right, after all a car is a car and some of us would be happy to drive a pakistani car if ever there was one launched in India and would be more proud of it than an Indian car.

Do you think an American would have bought a Russian product during cold war?
But maybe patriotism is limited to United States of America.

I am very sure I would be there outside MG Motors showroom in my city to protest against MG Motors, to educate people on this matter and make them aware of why they should not buy MG cars. Call me whatever you like but I will strongly boycott MG Motors.

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

If patriotism is the primary criteria

Originally Posted by GTO

Mod Note:

1. A polite reminder of our rules. Please avoid any posts on politics / governments.

2. Public poll added .

Originally Posted by soji

Is this thread even relevant on this forum?

I think this thread has already descended into Facebook/WhatsApp territory. People have said what they wanted on both sides of the spectrum and lot of members have voted on the poll as well. My sincere request to the Mods to close this thread, if you feel it has served its purpose.

[thoma]

As long it is not unpatriotic in allowing sales of Chinese cars in India, it seems not unpatriotic in buying them too.

I prefer quality over country of origin while buying anything.

[Ranabegins]

I don't have problem with products of other countries being sold in the Indian Market as competition is very healthy for the customer.
When it comes to China i am a bit skeptical reason being that China does not have a good stance towards India and they have been acting against our interests for a long time. Apart from this most of Chinese products are of very bad quality and a lot of them are even not safe.
My answer to this question would be both Yes and No, i would buy the best product available in the market at a decent rate, the country of origin doesn't really matter but if i had to choose between 2 products and both of them have the same quality and similar price i would choose the one from an Indian firm.
Just to point out i would rather buy a bad Chinese product than a decent Pakistani one.

[ashwinprakas]

In a country like India where poverty is a mindset does it make any sense in going by the philosophy "Be Indian, Buy Indian"?

Asking because the aforementioned mindset has made us opportunists in a rat race, you, me, policymakers and industrialists alike, saying this because I applaud the German's when it comes to buying preferences and when I try to emulate the same at my own expense and buy an Indian product, I see that the product in question was originally manufactured in China and then simply assembled and re-branded in India to sport the 'Make In India' tag.

Please feel free to educate me if I'm missing something.

[sgiitk]

I will be more worried about the durability of Chinese cars! Chinese products at the moment are in the stage of the Japanese in the 1950's. The Japs were considered 'Cheap and Cheerful'. Nowadays the Japanese beat out the Americans and most Europeans in this regsrd.

[landcruiser123]

I don't think so. India protects its own interest by taxing CBUs heavily. I agree with this policy because it generates jobs. I don't think it should be a matter of concern about where the main design office for the car is located as long as the cars meet all safety and emission norms in the market.

I don't think we can compare phones and cars in this context. I can't tell for sure whether Chinese agencies are spying through the smartphone, but it is a matter of grave concern if they are. Because I'm skeptical, I avoid those brands.

[Chillout]

Some how I cannot phantom risking family and others in a Chinese build car. One may argue,but their quality is no where near the Japs or Koreans. Also from a privacy perspective I will not buy them even if they are given free. This has nothing to do with one being patriotic or non patriotic, survey question should have been would you buy Chinese car or not. Didn't expect Teambhp also to pose a media like question to attract viewership

[Raghuwire]

Today we see how the Korean car makers have taken the automotive world by storm. The small peninsular country gave us kia, Hyundai, Daewoo etc. When I was working with Koreans I saw that, Koreans in middle East or any part of the world, first buy Korean make only. From minibuses to sedans to SUV, all were Korean make. I believe this enabled Korean companies to not worry about domestic market, which they conquered and then spread to the world. The free market analogy is very tempting. IMHO, we should emulate this. Also, how free is our market? Can our domestic companies fight against these mega MNCs which have very deep pockets?

And coming to Chinese companies especially, how fair is their market for us. Chinese car makers have been notorious in copying designs and tech and have grown faster and richer than Indian companies. should Tata and Mahindra be penalised for that? Also, I find their marketing very misleading. Present MG motors does not have anything in common with the MG motors of the past in UK. UM motorcycles is a Chinese company masquerading as a US brand. So with these in mind, I would prefer to buy domestic cars and give them a chance to grow and conquer the market, would love to see Indian brands spread across the world.

[GrammarNazi]

If it's unpatriotic to buy Chinese products/cars, then it's unpatriotic to buy any brand that has its presence in China. Including Tata.

Forget Chinese tensions, since 300 years (& even till date) British law allows asylum to those who've scammed Indians & plundered our natural resources. So buying from British brands/companies is also unpatriotic ?

I wasn't going to post on this thread until I saw the interview of the prime minister wherein he left it to the wisdom of people to decide their choice. I would've preferred him to assure the citizens that they should instead fully utilise their liberty & freedom, sure nobody is perfect but such a tone trickles down & when mixed with grapevine, it creates an atmosphere very conducive to misguided nationalists.

I have come across too many people who are innocently taken in by fundamentalist propoganda / blatant nonsense forwarded thru WhatsApp / Facebook / Twitter by bhakts / fanboys / simpletons & liars.

See, by imposing limitations on ourself about how we "must not" enjoy the liberty (guaranteed by the constitution) to spend our tax paid income in the way we like & believe would be beneficial to ourselves, we are accepting the imposition of a fundamentalist authority on our freedom.

Actually it's a phenomenon we're seeing not just in India, but also world over, mostly propagated by the "right wing" in the name of nationalism. Try to stay unaffected by it. It happens in the course of nation building that bits of freedom are attempted to be snatched. Don't let that happen, Hitler did it and that didn't end well for them back then.

Anyway, voting has started, please exercise your democratic right to choose wisely.

[narayans80]

Let's take the example of clothes, don't we get el-cheapo to ones that last more than a decade. Both ends of the spectrum are from the same country with vastly differing quality standards. So whichever shop you go and buy, are evaluated based on the vendor they are buying from.

Same case with Chinese, we've seen anywhere between Burma bazaar cellphones through iPhones.

Unlike cellphones, cars aren't evaluated by price tag alone. Ask Tata, who've learnt it the hard way. So putting in half-baked components and selling for cheap won't fly for SAIC. So if the MG Hector is going to get a very good word of mouth from its early bird buyers, it'll sell regardless of the social media chatter.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by KMT

In the case of a country which is openly condescending and nasty to India and actively sells arms to our enemies should we sell out to the cheapest/most VFM product?

Originally Posted by wrongturn

I am very sure I would be there outside MG Motors showroom in my city to protest against MG Motors, to educate people on this matter and make them aware of why they should not buy MG cars. Call me whatever you like but I will strongly boycott MG Motors.

So if the showrooms open in our cities, it means that the Indian Government has permitted them to do so, right? And I'm assuming the professionals at the MEA and the MoD are far more competent at assessing external threats and diplomatic snubs than most of us keyboard warriors? I'm quite sure they are aware of all aspects of our engagement with China, right? I'll go so far as to say those professionals are certainly patriotic?

So...