The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Will Chinese Made Cars Soon Overtake Our Highways?

Episode Date: April 22, 2026

It's an end-bits Wednesday and some great little stories to tell. Starting with some articles about how Chinese vehicles could soon be overtaking our roadways. That's just one of the stories we'll be telling this week on your Wednesday episode of The Bridge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of the bridge. It's Wednesday. Today's going to be an NBits day with one of the questions being this. Are Chinese cars about to take over our highways? That's coming. Right up. And hello there.

It's Hump Day. It's middle of the weekday. It's Wednesday. And Wednesdays are for either encore editions. I can't remember the last time we had one. of those. Or N-bit stays. And it turns out that you love N-bits, or at least many of you love N-bits. Not all of you love N-bits, but many of you do. And you recognize that Wednesdays is my day off, such as it is. And today is N-bits. And you heard the headline. A headline is our Chinese

cars about to take over our roadways. Well, we, we... We know there's a certain opening of the market. You've heard the prime minister on his deal with the Chinese on cars, letting just a small amount. What was the figure? 50,000, something like that, up to 50,000 Chinese cars a year. We made this kind of a deal so we could reduce the tariffs on canola and certain other things from China.

So let's get started on this, because this story comes from the Daily Mail. That's in the UK, right? And the headline is, Chinese cars will soon take over Britain's roads. I've tested them and spoken to insiders. Here's what you need to know before you buy one, says motoring editor Rob Hull. That's the headline.

That's a long headline. But the story's even longer. not going to read it all. But I'm going to read some of it because it's pretty interesting, actually. But keep in mind, this is Britain. All right? This is not Canada. It's Britain, but there could be a lesson in here for all of us. So let's get into that. This is from, well, it's a little more than a week ago. Here's what Rob Hull writes. And once again, it's about Britain. It's about the UK, but get ready. It's going to start to look like this soon here. Here he goes. Everywhere you look on the roads today, there are cars with new and unfamiliar names and badges

you may not have seen before. Any chances? And chances are they're Chinese. The rise in popularity of Chinese electric cars has been meteoric and unprecedented. Chinese brands are capturing huge shares of the British market that took foreign brands such as Kia 25 years to crack. Experts tell me it's a matter of when, not if, they take over our roads in the UK. There may soon be a time when you seldom see a British or even German car on our streets. There has previously been a stigma around owning a Chinese car. as they have been sometimes perceived as the cheaper knock-off version of European favorites. But their quality is now undeniable.

This is the motoring editor of the Daily Mail, okay? Their quality is now undeniable, and with familiar faces like Daniel Craig, remember Daniel Craig, James Bond, now fronting these brands as ambassadors and effectively giving them the James Bond stamp of approval, any snootiness is quickly fading. Sales have been rocketing. Almost one in ten new models delivered in the UK in 2025

was sold by a Chinese company, twice as many as the previous year, according to car registration figures. That's around 196,000 cars compared to 98,000 units delivered. in 2024. So you've seen how rapidly Chinese car sales in Britain have gone up. Keep in mind, we're starting at under 50,000.

The attraction for buyers is that they offer all the bells and whistles of expensive German or British cars, but for a fraction of the price. Now, I'm not familiar with how some of these names are pronouns, pronounce the Chinese cars, but I'll try. A Yaku 7, for example, starts from 29,000 pounds. That's roughly $50,000, a little less, and comes with a full-length panoramic roof,

heated front seats, and 540-degree panoramic parking camera as standard. A VW Tiguan, a similar size SUV, cost $10,000 more and has none of those. features on its standard model. European car makers face serious consequences. Former chief executive of Nissan, Andy Palmer, warns that European brands not investing enough in electric cars are facing an existential crisis. Wind the clock's back five years, and there was just one mainstream Chinese car maker

selling in Britain. MG, a badge steeped in British heritage, but that's been under China. stewardship since 2005. I didn't know that. M.G. Remember, an M.G? Today, there are more than a dozen Chinese brands to choose from, and leading experts in the industry tell me there are many, many more on the way. Two Chinese powerhouses have emerged in recent years to drive the surge in sales. B.Y.D, that stands for build your dreams. And I think it's cherry, although it's pronounced or spelled with only one R.

B.YD is fame for overtaking Tesla as the world's largest EV maker last year. It entered the UK market in 2023 and already has 10 cars in its lineup. 10 different models. This year it's launching its Denza subbrand, which includes the first electric car to charge in less than 10. 10 minutes, 10 minutes using one of the company's flash chargers. Okay, this goes on and on, okay? But it clears clearly what's happening.

They're expanding the market. They're being let in the country by bigger numbers every year. And they are undeniably well made. So this is like, I don't know, half a dozen pages long or longer than that. No, it's longer than that. It's almost 10 pages. But they do include at the end, and I think this is worth mentioning, for those of you who may be going. Okay, maybe I better start thinking about this a little more seriously.

They include five tips when buying a Chinese car. Number one, pick one with a long warranty. If you still have reservations, about the quality of Chinese cars, pick one with a long warranty. Cherry models all come with a seven-year, 100,000 miles,

so it's whichever comes first, warranty for the cars, and eight years, 100,000 miles for the high-voltage battery packs in electrified models. BYD has a shorter warranty of six years, 93,750 miles.

That's 150 miles. 50,000 clicks for its cars, although the batteries are covered for eight years and 125,000 miles. Two, massive dealer networks means you can find one close by. That's always an issue, right? You want to be able, depending on where you are, you want to know that you can get a dealer. If you're looking for additional confidence,

choose a brand with a dealership close by. The two dealers that I mentioned, Cherry and BYD have more than 250 showrooms between them in the UK. Some of the other brands are partnering with European manufacturers to piggyback on to their existing dealer networks. Three, a hybrid might be more cost effective than EVs. And you hear that in not only the Chinese models. You hear that in other models as well.

You know, some of my friends who have Hyundai's swear that the hybrid is better than the EV. I don't know that. I'm just telling you what I hear. Check with your insurer. A recent study found that some insurers are either refusing to underwrite some Chinese cars or charging hundreds of pounds more than they would to cover models from established mainstream manufacturers from Europe, Japan, Korea, and the U.S. That's important to keep in mind, insurance.

before you rush off. And here's the last thing to keep in mind. Number five. One of the biggest selling points of Chinese car makers is that they are offering a bounty or of equipment even on the cheapest versions of their models. But they're not all the same. Some brands only providing gadgets and plush items

for higher trim levels than the entry version. Do your research. Which should apply no matter what you're buying, right? no matter what kind of car you're buying, no matter what you're buying, do your research on what you're purchasing. Now the second piece for today is kind of related. The headline on Moneywise.com, we will not survive, is the quote,

backed up by this. Toyota, Honda, and Ford CEOs issue chilling warnings about China. and it could hit your portfolio. Becky Robertson writes this, and she wrote this last week. China has long been considered not only an ever more efficient manufacturing force to be reckoned with, but the world's factory responsible for upwards of 30% of total industrial production and its mastery of certain sectors, like automotive, is growing cause for concern among stakeholders.

I'm not going to read all of this either. You get the headline, you get the idea from the headline, but a whopping 70% of all new electric vehicles now come from China, with BYD far outpacing Tesla and others in sales and scaling worldwide operations as a result. It is automakers like Toyota, Honda, and Ford, panicking about projects an overhauling strategy with Ford executives saying

even three years ago that China was way ahead of the game. So this isn't suddenly happening. They're suddenly talking about it, but they could see this three years ago. We have no chance against this, said one top Honda executive. In fact, it couldn't be further

at the top than them. He's the president and CEO, Tushahiro Mibi. We have no chance against this, he said. After a visit to Shanghai, seeing the parts factory, commenting on its seamless automation across all levels of production. Logistics, procurement, and all aspects of the process were so automated, in fact, that he did not spot a single human worker on the supplier's floor. Can you believe that?

There he is. The CEO of Honda standing. on the floor of one of the Chinese automakers in their parts factory in Shanghai and he can't see a single human working. It's all automated. It's all computerized. It's all robotic. There you go.

All right. You get the idea from those two pieces as to what's happening. And the auto sector. Get ready for it. it's coming this way. They take a while, but it's coming this way.

If those first 50,000 turn out to be cars that Canadians love, look out and look out for the North American auto industry. I mean, we already have our concerns and fears as a result of the tariff situation with the U.S., but this is going to a whole different ballgame. Okay, change of topic. This is from the Washington. post. And it's of particular interest to a certain segment of our listening audience, not just older, the middle-aged as well. In the desire that so many people have to get a better

sleep, there are different things on the market you can have to try and achieve that. I've tried a number of things to get a better sleep. I still haven't found. I haven't found the right pathway yet. But one of those is cannabis, okay? In those gums, gummies. I've tried those at the weakest level, and I'm not ready to say they work or they don't work. Sometimes I feel they're working, I get a better sleep.

I have one gummy before I go to bed. But most nights I don't notice any difference at all. However, having said that, this piece in the Washington Post, here's the headline, The surprising ways cannabis may affect an aging brain. Well, I have one of those. Here's the story is more states legalize recreational marijuana use like we have here. Here's what the research says about what cannabis is really doing to your brain. This is a piece by Sarah Klein.

and once again, I'm not going to read all of it. I'll just read a bit of it. Marijuana use seems to be more popular, at least more openly talked about than ever. Regardless of whether you're on the gummy bandwagon, that's what I was talking about, you might wonder how it really affects your brain after the buzz wears off.

I haven't had any buzz from a gummy. It's subtle, much more subtle than a buzz. About 15,000, 0.4% of Americans older than 12 have used cannabis in the past month, according to 2024 data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. And before you start thinking too much, it's been at least 40 years since I smoked cannabis in my foolish youth. I used to take the occasional marijuana cigarette.

That was back when it was illegal. So I haven't done any of that. It's just the odd gummy I've tried. So 15.4% of Americans older than 12 of used cannabis. That number has been increasing as new marijuana products hit the market and more states legalize its use, according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention. Older adults, those 60 and older,

are the fastest growing group of cannabis users in the country. According to a 22 study, adults over 60 who started using did so for medical reasons, including to treat pain and arthritis, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. While more than three quarters of those people found the cannabis either somewhat or very helpful, the question remains. What are the side effects?

You may be particularly curious about brain effects, given concerns about cognitive decline. So what exactly does the research say? Cognitive declined. Maybe that's what Trump's doing. Maybe he's just shoving those gummies down his throat every night. And instead of sleeping, he goes straight to his phone and starts tapping out bizarre

social media posts. Maybe that's it. Anyway, let me read a little bit more. Cannabis use is linked to worse working memory. This probably isn't too surprising, but cannabis can affect your ability to retain information in the short term. This makes some intuitive sense

to anyone who has tried it. If you smoke cannabis, afterward, if you do a working memory test where you're trying to maintain some piece of information, like a phone number or a short list of words, you're less good at doing that while you're acutely intoxicated, said Joseph Shack, an associate professor of psychiatry and co-director

of the Division of Addiction Science Prevention and Treatment at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. But lifetime use seems to have a similar effect. Consistent cannabis users tend to have lasting memory deficits compared with non-users, he said. In a January 2025 study in JAMA Network opened, the largest of its kind, researchers looked at the effects of cannabis use on more than 1,000 adults, aged 22 to 36 using brain imaging.

Heavy lifetime users exhibited lower brain activity during a working memory task compared with non-users after excluding recent users. Okay, this is getting pretty technical on all of this. But clearly, there's some concern here about the problem it's having. Here's how it concludes. In the meantime, without more research, it can be challenging for some people to decide whether cannabis might benefit them. The best thing we can hope for, this is one of the researchers,

is good sound empirical data that helps to drive individuals' decisions as opposed to hearing somebody say, that should never be used. If you're concerned about a specific aspect of your brain health, such as dementia risk and how cannabis may affect you, consider talking to your doctor before trying legal products. And absolutely that's important. You should talk to your doctor before you start something like this at any level.

ask your doctor whether he or she has any issues about, you know, taking gummies or smoking cannabis. All right? Okay. Okay, we're roughly halfway. Why don't we take our break and come right back and do a couple more end bits right here on this Wednesday, hump day edition of the bridge. Back in a moment. And welcome back. you're listening to The Bridge, the Wednesday episode.

It's an N-Bits day. I've still got that image of Trump, the middle of the night, popping gummies. You're listening on Series X-M Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. We have a few more. N-bits to give you here today. So why don't we get at it?

Here's the headline for this. It's from National Public Radio. No one likes being discombobulated. Don't you love that word? Well, as much as you love it, how did the feeling get such a fun name? So let's read this a little bit. This came out last week.

Feeling a little confused, concerned, off-kilter, out of sorts sounds like you're discombobulated. It's a fitting word. for an unsettling feeling. It sounds formal, maybe even fancy, but it's actually the creation of some good old-fashioned American

jokesters. The word is very much an American invention, says Joshua Blackburn, the British-based author of The Language Lovers Lexapedia. And it seems to have been part of a fad in the 19th century

for inventing rather fancy grand and rather humorous sounding words. He says, the first part of the word, Discom, was likely inspired by real words like discompose and discomfort. The final part, Eulate,

also reads like many other Latin-derived verbs. Think tabulate, regulate, populate. The wild card is the middle part, that funny-sounding Bob. Blackburn, citing linguist Ben Zimmer's work, thanks Bob, comes from Bobbery,

an Anglo-Indian word for commotion or noise. Taken all together, Blackburn says it works. The sound of the word seems to suggest the meaning of the word. The sound of the word is discombobulating. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the verbs first known use, to a newspaper in Hagerstown, Maryland. Guess when that was? Hands on the buzzers.

Guess that date without having looked it up. The date, first known use of discombobulating, or some version of it, was in the 1820s. Our friend Blackburn says it evolved over the years from discomboborate in 1825 to discombobrocate in 1834. And finally, discombobulation in 1839. That was during an era in which Americans apparently got a kick out of concocting elaborate

pseudo-Latin words, what's sometimes called dog Latin, as a means of mocking politicians and the elites. Okay, I was going to end it there, but I've got to read this part. The opposite, what's the opposite of discombobulation? A cheekly named sign at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport in Wisconsin offers one suggestion. After passing through the Transportation Security Administration, that's the TSA, security checkpoint, Travelers find themselves in a recombolation area.

That's the zone in which to put your shoes and belt back on, return your laptop to its sleeve, and zip up your bags before venturing toward your gate. I always hate that part. My belt actually serves a purpose. It keeps my pants up. So when I have to take my belt off and go through the thing, I'm having to hold my pants up or they're kind of drop in the middle of the airport.

All right. So there you know, everything you need to know about. discombobulation. You know me. I love airplane stories. So here's your airplane story for the week. It answers this question. This is in the travel section of the Telegraph.

The hidden airplane rooms where pilots and flight attendants sleep. That's the headline. Where do they sleep? Now, they don't sleep on the flight early. I hope they don't from Toronto to Ottawa. but hey Toronto to Heathrow Toronto to

Delhi Toronto to Singapore Vancouver to Beijing well some of the pilots because there'll be extra pilots on flights that long need to rest need somewhere to sleep sometimes they

mark off seats in some of the jets that are just for crew seats. You know, regular passenger seats, but crew seats. On the bigger planes, they actually have rooms. So this is what this article's about. On long haul trips around the globe, crew needs somewhere to catch 40 winks. So where are these secret places?

And what's it like inside? Ian McCauley writes this. A couple of weeks ago. In the travel section of the Telegraph. If you ever been on a long haul flight in one day, where that cabin crew member who'd been looking for, who'd been looking after you so attentively, had suddenly disappeared to.

Big long haul passenger jets have secret spaces, both below travelers' feet and above their heads. And unless you work for an airline or our serious aviation geek, you'd never know what they were or where they're hidden. They're the out-of-bounds for passengers' rest areas for both on-duty pilots and flight attendants who look after everything from our safety and security to that next gin and tonic.

On monster flights around the globe, it's crucial that they stay fresh and alert. And on a typical 10-hour flight, cabin crew can amass up to 15,000 steps. So rather than snatching a few uncomfortable moments on a fold-down seat in the galley, they head for secret, secure, and soundproofed rest areas. These feature sleeping bunks,

are access via staircases hidden behind anonymous-looking panels, and provide vital bolt holes, particularly for when crew rotate during flights. We're not all gassing about going out when we arrive somewhere exotic, said one long-haul flight attendant at a major airline. first not every destination is exotic. Second, the priority is rest and being sharp for any eventuality or emergency. She added, different airlines have different protocols,

but we stay strapped into our bunks if there's turbulence. If there's some kind of emergency like after severe turbulence, then it can mean all hands on deck. The rest areas are quiet, air conditioned like the rest of the plane, and with good sound insulation. so you don't hear much. The bunks are standard single mattress size, six feet three inches long, 30 inches wide,

and have privacy curtains. Some have access to the same entertainment as the passengers. A male flight attendant said, I personally wear a track suit bottoms and a sweatshirt if I'm having a sleep and allow myself a few minutes to freshen up and sort out my hair before going back on duty. You don't want to appear in any.

in the cabin all crumpled up. Okay. Have we heard enough of this? Let me just read a little bit more. We're never in the bunks during takeoff or landing, and the entire crew is usually involved with meal service. We all have each other's back, so if it looks like a colleague is overslept,

then we use an intercom from the cabin or galley to wake them, or go down or give them a nudge. On the subject of nudges, yes, we do get the occasional cheeky question from friends about the Mile High Club. We know what that is. When they hear about our rest areas, and sometimes you might get a couple who end up being rostered together

on the same flight, taking a rest at the same time. However, the risk of instant dismissal is generally a passion killer. Okay, so I didn't know that. You get fired if you're joining the Mile High Club, even if you're married. Okay. Definitely keep that in mind. That's probably enough on this, right?

That's probably not a bad way to end it. So there you go. Now you know how they sleep. The last one. I flagged this a couple of weeks ago and then forgot about it. I was supposed to do it last week. Some of you, though, wrote and reminded me. What happened to that story you said you were going to say about the rudest things Americans say while traveling abroad?

Poor old Americans. They always get picked on, right? But sometimes they kind of deserve it. You know, I remember once I was golfing one of my favorite golf courses. It used to be one of my favorite, probably used to be my favorite golf course in the world, which was Turnbury on the west coast of Scotland. Absolutely stunning course. Sight of a number of British opens.

The last one being when Tom Watson almost won. the British Open over 60 years old. He didn't Stuart Sink beat him in a playoff. Anyway, I used to go there every year, me and my buddies. Bruce, Bruce used to come too, Bruce Anderson. But then Trump bought it, and we haven't been back since. But I love Turnberry, not only for the Gulf, but the history. The RAF used it as a base during the Second World War

and used the fairways as runways. and in some places you could still see the pavement. That's all gone. That history has been wiped out. Anyway, I was at Turnberry once, and we were in the clubhouse, and we were having our lunch after a round of golf. And at the far side of the room, were a group of Americans

who clearly had on their tour, their golf tour, Johnny Bench, the famous catcher from the Cincinnati Reds. And Johnny was sitting with them there and, you know, a celebrity in the room. But these guys were jerks. They were loud. They were obscene. They were treating a staff in the room poorly. And Johnny Bench was clearly embarrassed.

He kind of looked over at us at one point with the sort of, I can't believe this. But, you know, we could believe it, like many of you could, because you've seen, this is not to characterize all Americans abroad as being this way because they aren't. But a surprising number are. So much so that this American magazine, or newspaper, Huffington Post, has done a whole column on the rudest things Americans say while traveling abroad. a writer by the name of Jillyn Wilson. And the sub-headline is you don't need to say everything you're thinking out loud, whether you have thoughts on currency or cultural traditions. You should treat a visitor to another country as you would have visit to a friend's house,

meaning you wouldn't spend time criticizing their cooking or traditions. So here are few things that constitute the rudest things. people say when traveling abroad and they're talking about Americans. Number one, the customer is always right. Something the writer says, I actually heard. I was in London last week. Somebody was arguing with the front desk of the hotel

and they were saying, well, the customer is always right. And it's sort of like that's actually a very American approach to customer service. Said Nick Layton, an etiquette expert and host of the, were you raised by wolves? podcast. It's not a globally shared thought pattern, and very often the customer is not right,

Leight and added. In a lot of places around the world, a business is happy to push back on that, meaning you may not get the outcome you're hoping for. You sometimes hear stories where somebody's in a restaurant in Italy, and they ask for parmesan cheese to put on their fish, and the restaurant's like, no, we're not going to let you do that. This often results in an upset customer who utters a phrase like,

the customer is always right or I'm the customer only to be met with further refusal from the restaurant. So before you assume you can do no wrong as a patron of a business, remember that this is an American, extremely American idea. Number two, referring to a country as third world. According to Chelsea Glass, the founder and CEO of Heart of Travel, an ethical travel tour company, The use of the term third world country is another no-no, especially when it's just as easy to say developing nation or simply refer to the country by its name. Third world country has negative connotations

and is also just an inaccurate term. Number three, how much is it in real money? Come on, you've heard that. You've heard that in your overseas travel. You may have even said it yourself. How much is that in real money? This should go without saying, but just because you're visiting a country

that uses a different currency doesn't mean their money is any less real than the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar is a very popular currency around the world, but Mexico pesos are also real money. Euros are real money. And I think people are not saying the phrase real money in some sort of way that's commenting on the dollar standard,

but it does come across like, oh, your money, our money is real and everything else is not real. Once again, that's Mr. Leighton saying that. It's also not a good idea to comment on how cheap something is when visiting a country with a weaker currency. Or oppositely, to complain about how expensive something is in a place where you didn't expect to pay top dollar. I think people have this gross overestimation that the U.S. dollar is so powerful in these countries, and it goes so far when in reality if you look at the cost of living look at the labor involved people are still

underpaid in these places people often have a false idea of just how powerful the US dollar is when that isn't really true in the global economy says our friend Mr. Glass okay we have a couple more referring to people as exotic or romanticizing certain situations

says authentic. Calling people exotic is condescending, said Leighton, even if you mean it in a nice way. Anything down that road, this is not great. Anything where we're starting to romanticize, especially poverty, oh, this place is so authentic. This is also not great, said Mr. Leighton. I think anywhere you might be traveling even poorer areas in the U.S.

If you find it charming and authentic that people have different living conditions, I think that can come across in a way that maybe you don't intend. And here's the last one. Can you just speak English? I think one obvious one is when people angrily demand that people in the country they're visiting speak English when English is not the native language of that country. Our expert added that they've not seen this,

or they've seen this on multiple occasions. I've seen travelers be rude to waitresses, inside cafes in Mexico City because they're not speaking English. Okay. The headline says the rudest things Americans say while traveling abroad. I think a lot of those are probably said not just by Americans. I'd venture the odd Canadians said a few of those things too.

All right. That's going to do it for today's exciting edition of NBits. Tomorrow we've got your turn coming up where you're going to tell me what you worry about these days and we've had lots and lots of answers. Good ones, variety of different answers. I think we've got more than enough already.

But that's tomorrow's version of the bridge plus the random renter. Saturday, or Saturday. Friday. That's how the week goes, right? Thursday, Friday, then Saturday? Friday, it's Good Talk.

Chantelle-A-Barre, Bruce Anderson, and moi. I'll be there, and so will you. I say that comfortably, knowing that none of you ever miss Good Talk. You can listen to it, or you can watch it.

That's going to do it for today. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. Have a great day. We'll talk to you again in less than 24 hours. Bye for now.