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You're not wrong but if it were that easy to make tires with the level of quality that my tires have, I'd expect to see options from countries that aren't known

You're not wrong but if it were that easy to make tires with the level of quality that my tires have, I'd expect to see options from countries that aren't known for industrial espionage. As it is, the only decent cheap tires are from China. If you can source cheap Thai tires, you'll find that they're inferior to the Chinese tires. Does China have a comparative advantage in tire technology over Thailand? Probably. Why? Probably because of industrial espionage. If it were that easy to make decent cheap tires, you'd probably see other places doing it.

cat199 9y ago
Actually, if you could source cheap Thai tires, the factory would probably be bought out by a multinational who could too, and the rebranded product would then sold at the higher world price... https://www.michelin.com/eng/michelin-group/organization/facilities/(continent)/959/(country)/1019 https://www.michelin.com/eng/michelin-group/organization/fac...
- alexanderstears 9y ago
  They're not Thai tires. They're Michelin tires made in Thailand. If the Thai tire technology were world class, Michelin wouldn't be able to add value to the Thai factory.
natch 9y ago
China’s market size is much bigger even accounting for the fact that it’s more of a potential market size than an actual one (1.4 billion population for China versus 66 million population for your example of Thailand.... a 20x difference so that should answer your question about why not Thailand.) That makes makes western companies do remarkable things in China. Not just partnering, but also opening branches in China and training up local staff with the latest techniques. Before long the leading edge technology is being developed in China, not elsewhere. This isn’t a made up scenario; it’s what has been happening for a couple of decades and now it’s getting pretty hard to ignore. Tim Cook (Apple) said: “The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills,” Cook explained. “I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.” So the skills move there, the techniques move there, and pretty soon it should no longer be surprising that they also have the ability to make stuff well there.

cat199 9y ago

Actually, if you could source cheap Thai tires, the factory would probably be bought out by a multinational who could too, and the rebranded product would then sold at the higher world price... https://www.michelin.com/eng/michelin-group/organization/facilities/(continent)/959/(country)/1019 https://www.michelin.com/eng/michelin-group/organization/fac...

alexanderstears 9y ago
They're not Thai tires. They're Michelin tires made in Thailand. If the Thai tire technology were world class, Michelin wouldn't be able to add value to the Thai factory.

natch 9y ago

China’s market size is much bigger even accounting for the fact that it’s more of a potential market size than an actual one (1.4 billion population for China versus 66 million population for your example of Thailand.... a 20x difference so that should answer your question about why not Thailand.) That makes makes western companies do remarkable things in China. Not just partnering, but also opening branches in China and training up local staff with the latest techniques. Before long the leading edge technology is being developed in China, not elsewhere. This isn’t a made up scenario; it’s what has been happening for a couple of decades and now it’s getting pretty hard to ignore. Tim Cook (Apple) said: “The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills,” Cook explained. “I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.” So the skills move there, the techniques move there, and pretty soon it should no longer be surprising that they also have the ability to make stuff well there.