american "brother on wheels": showing chinese cars to the world
2024-09-08
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chengdu, september 8 (china news service) title: american "wheel brother": showing chinese cars to the world
author: shan peng
"this looks like a car designed for the european market." recently, auto blogger and "wheel brother" ethan robertson came to chengdu to visit the 27th chengdu international auto show (hereinafter referred to as chengdu auto show). a newly released byd electric car attracted his attention: "compared with byd models previously exported to europe, the interior of this new car is much simpler. i think this style will be popular in europe."
on august 30, the 27th chengdu international auto show opened in chengdu. the picture shows the auto self-media blogger, "wheel brother" ethan robertson, introducing the exhibited vehicles at the booth. (photo provided by the interviewee)
ethan, 33, is from north carolina, usa, and has been working in the automotive self-media industry in shanghai for four years. as an automotive blogger active on chinese and foreign social platforms, ethan focuses his lens on chinese cars, especially electric cars, which have been gaining popularity in recent years. from battery life to smart driving experience, from electric suvs priced at one million yuan to micro hatchback electric cars, ethan shares his experience of test driving chinese cars and tells the story of the development of china's automotive industry.
at this year's chengdu auto show, ethan wore his signature floral shirt and walked between the booths of various automakers. at the site, ethan and his team recorded several videos, one of which introduced byd cars and was played 55,000 times after being posted on the video website youtube. many foreign netizens left messages saying "chinese cars are so amazing"; some foreign netizens also expressed their expectation that chinese electric cars will be exported to their countries as soon as possible. "our old fans have long known that china's automobile industry is developing very fast, but new fans may not expect that such a modern electric car would come from a chinese automaker," said ethan.
before he became involved with cars, ethan was fascinated by chinese history and culture. ethan took chinese as an elective course in college, and in 2013, he came to beijing and shanghai to study the language. after returning to the united states to complete his college studies, ethan returned to china again and entered wuhan university to pursue a master's degree. in 2019, ethan met the founding team of "wheel brother" by chance. the latter was looking for foreigners who could introduce cars in chinese. at first, ethan participated in part of the team's filming as a guest, but filming often required "traveling all over the country." in 2021, ethan quit his job and devoted himself to self-media work.
on august 30, the 27th chengdu international auto show opened in chengdu and will last until september 8. the picture shows the scene of this chengdu auto show. (photo provided by the chengdu auto show organizing committee)
"wheel brother" ethan evaluates chinese cars from a foreigner's perspective. he not only shows chinese netizens an american's true evaluation of chinese cars, but also opens a window for many foreign netizens to understand chinese cars. "many overseas people are very curious about chinese cars, but car companies do not have a good channel to show them to the world. this is exactly the opportunity for us to become 'wheel brother'," ethan said.
"i am happy that netizens regard me as a global ambassador for chinese cars." ethan often shows the advantages of chinese electric cars without reservation. in one video, ethan showed a certain car with two 15.6-inch screens, heated and ventilated seats, and a cheap price. "interior upgrades are one of the most obvious manifestations of the progress of china's auto industry," he said. "a 12.3-inch car screen may still be a selling point in the us market, but it is not so competitive in the chinese market."
since becoming a "wheel brother", ethan has test-driven hundreds of chinese cars. "my job is to 'drive'. driving a chinese electric car can even make people fall in love with driving." ethan is optimistic about chinese electric cars going global. "as some chinese car brands enter europe, the middle east, southeast asia and south america, foreign consumers will fall in love with chinese cars in time." (end)
