While the automotive industry scrambles to decipher China’s rapid rise, Michael Dunne argues that what is happening is not just routine commercial expansion, but an industrial takeover. Joining us on today’s Inside Automotive episode is Michael Dunne, CEO of Dunne Insights, Author of the upcoming book Car Wars: How China Seized the Auto Industry –and How America Can Win It Back, and Author of the recent Wall Street Journal op-ed We can’t afford to Ignore China’s Auto Threat,” to discuss a candid wake-up call to American dealers, executives, and policymakers. For observers who assume Chinese automakers will follow the slow, steady playbook used by Japanese and Korean brands in past decades, Dunne cautions against nostalgia. He says that China’s strategy operates on a scale and ambition never seen before. "From the inside out, the Chinese way is not to attack militarily unless they absolutely have to. But they'd prefer to work industries and countries from the inside out..." Instead of waging direct military or confrontational battles, China prefers to hollow out key industries from the inside out. Dunne points to Europe as the prime example, saying Beijing pitched its EVs to European nations as the fastest track to meeting their ambitious climate goals. The strategy, he said, paid off when China went from virtually no market presence to exporting over one million cars to Europe in a single year, capturing roughly 10% of the market. Elsewhere, the numbers are even higher, with Chinese models now accounting for 20% of sales in the UK and Mexico, and a staggering 35% in Australia. He notes that the impact on legacy manufacturing is also already becoming evident. For instance, Volkswagen recently unveiled plans to shut down factories in Germany for the first time since World War II. Meanwhile, Honda experienced unprecedented losses across