In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy and most experts believe it will only be two or three decades before it becomes number one, officially making the U.S. it's bitch. As shown in a recent article by 24/7 Wall St, China has already surpassed the U.S. in a number of industries that America is traditionally considered to be the world leader - you can view them above. more ›

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Some say he has chopsticks for fingers, and cries tears of soy sauce... all we know is, he's called the Stig. With a bad taste left in our mouth from China's sad attempt at Top Gear earlier this year, it appears the good old boys from the original BBC Top Gear have finally made the trek to Beijing to show us how it's done.
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General Motors has just announced a new deal to bring the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid electric car to China at the 9th Auto Guangzhou show, currently running until November 28th. more ›

The sight of a BMW Mini police car parked outside a police station in the city of Tianjin has raised eyebrows among residents there. When a journalist from Southern Metropolitan Daily arrived at Binhai District's Tanggu Road police station where the car was parked, her requests for an interview was rebuffed by the duty officer who said he could not reveal his chief's cell phone number, and that "you can say whatever you like about it on the internet." Well, she went back to her office, put up what he said on the paper's Weibo, and the tweet has since been shared close to 4,000 times. more ›

It looks as if the dream of a Chinese-made electric car savior is in jeopardy. Responding to a poor showing in the first half of 2011, the Shenzhen-based BYD Automobile Co Ltd will reportedly lay-off up to 70 percent of its automotive sales division. Anonymous sources claim BYD will eventually reduce its sales workforce from its current 2600 to 800, with the first round of layoff claiming 1000 jobs. The Warren Buffett-backed automaker reported an 88.6 percent year-on-year profit decrease in the first half, with revenue falling 10.77 in the same period. Total sales for BYD during the first six months dropped by 23 percent to 220,000 units, leading to a market share decrease from 6.34 percent in 2010 to 4.69 percent. The number is a far cry from meeting the 800,000 units BYD was hoping to sell in 2011. more ›

The rumormill got cranking on this one after a China-based car blog announced that they heard it straight from the horse's mouth: a CCTV employee confirmed that production has already started on a Beijing-based Top Gear. If true, China would follow Russia, Australia and the U.S. in churning out their own versions of the massively popular UK-based TV show. Considering Top Gear already takes up a maddening amount of slots on Shanghai cable's only English-language channel (ICS), they've apparently got no problems with approval from the up-and-ups. A China version of the show could produce some interesting results, considering the auto industry here is marred with low popularity overseas and an often terrifying safety record. [Update: Confirmed! To be hosted by Beijing comedian and TV host Cao Yunjin, who says the pilot episode will include a race between a Cadillac and a donkey to see who pushes millstones faster.] more ›

We showed you all those Ferraris on exhibition in front of the Pearl tower but this particular car is for the eco conscious luxury car lover. more ›

Tsinghua Professor Patrick Chovanec was wandering the aisles of a baby supply store in Beijing when he came across this hilarious educational poster series: more ›

G.E. Anderson over at ChinaBizGov brings our attention to the shanzhai electric cars he discovered while in Baoding City, Hebei Province. more ›

Yes, this video, called "Shanghai's Drifter Girl," is quite obviously a viral ad. In fact, it's probably by the same people who made the whiny Shanghainese girl in a Buick showroom video. But hey, this one is shorter and considerably sweeter so I give it an A+. I wish I knew how to parallel park a car, much less park a Cadillac CTS by slamming on the handbrake and squealing it into a perfectly sized space. Apparently I'm not the only one - it's gotten over a million hits on Youku so far. more ›

• One of the unexpected bestsellers in China this year is "Zhu Rongji Answers Journalists' Questions" - a collection of his greatest hits in terms of... answering journalists' questions. [WSJ]
• For the first time ever, Chinese people will buy more cars this year than Americans. [NY Times]
• Speaking of the booming automobile business, one of China's billionaire's to watch is Geely Automobile's Li Shufu. [Forbes]

• We've seen a lot of hotties selling cars - but never have they been male, until now. In Guangzhou. [WSJ]
• Charles Darwin is popular in China! Though he never set foot in the country, his theory has deeply influenced China's social and natural sciences, political thoughts and life philosophy. [Beijing Review]
• Everyone wants the Chinese to buy more, but despite fistfuls of initiatives to boost consumer spending... nothing. Why? [New Yorker]

Not only was Car Free Day in Shanghai neither car free or a day, it seems that the two-and-a-half hour traffic ban on Nanjing Xi Lu this morning probably just caused more congestion (and possibly more pollution thanks to stopped, but still running, cars) thanks to nobody even knowing it was Car Free Day. And who can blame them? The day has shrunk from an entire 12-hour ban on private cars in central business districts in 2007 to just six hours on fewer streets last year and now to the measly little attempt this time around. And while today's efforts may have been symbolic, transport planners apparently forgot to tell the media to widely publicize their mediocre, lame action. As a result, traffic was backed up along most nearby roads. Good going, guys. Source:Shanghai Daily more ›

While we suppose that people who use private transportation are wiping their brows at the news, Shanghai's Car Free Day - which happens tomorrow, September 22 - seems to be a bit of a wash. While there is a rule that no cars are allowed in a section of the city during the day, take a look at where and for how long. Unlike previous reports that cars would be banned over five square kilometers for twelve entire hours, it seems that drivers will actually only need to worry about roads from between 8am to 10:30am... and only if they are traveling the stretch of Nanjing Xi Lu between Shimen Er Lu and Huashan Lu. If you happen to be around Shanghai Center and Plaza 66 at that time, we suppose you could leap through the usually crowded street (watch out for buses if you do), but otherwise, everywhere else will remain exactly the same as usual. Source: Xinmin more ›

So Shanghai may have found a ridiculous amount of drunk drivers during the most recent ten day crackdown on drunk driving (1200 people!), but it didn't even make it into the top nine worst offenders. more ›

Well, would you look at this crazy little contraption. According to the Metacafe link, this single seat car (actually double seat, the passenger is in the rear), will be sold in Shanghai in 2010. The car allegedly gets 258 miles per gallon, can cruise at 100 to 120kmh and only costs 4000RMB. There's absolutely nothing to dislike... EXCEPT IT'S NOT REALLY TRUE. more ›

• Why China Can't Create Brands [Newsweek] "China is famous as the factory to the world, but even its best companies enjoy little if any fame. That paradox has become a vexing problem for China's leaders. The nation is now too rich to continue growing at a double-digit pace by simply putting more peasants to work in factories, and then underselling its Western, Japanese, and South Korean competition. The job of making cheap clothes, toys, and electronics is moving on to even cheaper labor markets, like Vietnam. In a March report, Premier Wen Jiabao called for China to create companies that can innovate and churn out "brand-name export products"—meaning companies with reputations for quality, innovation, and service so strong that customers are willing to pay a premium for their products."
• Kazakh Uighurs hold mass protest [AP] " More than 5,000 ethnic Uighurs rallied in Kazakhstan's largest city on Sunday to protest China's use of deadly force to quash Uighur protests this month. The show of solidarity was the largest in any of the former Soviet republics — home to a half-million Uighurs — since the July 5 violence in Xinjang that authorities say claimed almost 200 lives."
• Caution urged in bids for US Big Three [China Daily] "As the ongoing financial crisis pressures Western automakers to consider selling some of their assets, Chinese vehicle producers are seeing more opportunities to enter the global market through overseas acquisitions. However, unlike the positive responses to purchases such as China's Lenovo acquiring IBM's PC business in 2004, bidding for assets from ailing Big Three automakers has attracted more criticism."

How hot is it in Shanghai? So hot that a car spontaneously combusted last week. At around 3:30pm on July 9, a Volkwagen Passat began smoking and caught on fire at the corner of Changde Lu and Changle Lu, according to Xinmin. By the time the Xinmin reporter got to the car, the fire had already been extinguished. But from the photos of the aftermath, it looks like the fire did a number on the front of the vehicle. The tow company said that the car likely combusted because of circuit failure. As a PSA, perhaps you should keep your car out of the sun. more ›

The days of the hallowed Volkswagen Santana, long the automobile of choice for basically all Shanghai taxi companies, may soon be screeching to a full stop. more ›

Here's something to consider if you're thinking of buying a car in Shanghai: the city is discussing a scheme to grant discounts to license plates of low-emission vehicles. Every year, the Shanghai government puts a set number of license plates its willing to issue up for auction in an attempt to slow urban congestion. Though they've raised the amount of issued plates each year to pace growing demand, getting a " 沪 （hu）" license can still be astronomically expensive (this January, it cost around $4,388 per plate - and that was considered low). Officials weren't clear about what discount would be offered, but the policy would hope to balance reducing the cost of owning a private car and boosting sales of more environmentally friendly motor vehicles. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

As a tribute to the ongoing Shanghai Auto Show, car blog Jalopnik has posted their list of the ten worst Chinese car names. Our favorite: the Tang Hua Detroit Fish, which takes the cake for not just sounding like possibly the most unappetizing seafood dish in the Midwest, but is also an amphibious car with giant holes. more ›

Chery seemed to be the only car on the lot to have a functioning electric car (the Riich M1) but other car makers who have jumped on the green bandwagon included Peugeot, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes Benz and Hyundai. more ›

• Chavez says world 'center of gravity' now Beijing [AP] "The world's center of gravity has moved to Beijing, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told his Chinese counterpart Wednesday during a visit focused on boosting Chinese oil purchases. The frequent U.S. critic also praised China's response to the global financial meltdown that has sent prices of his South American nation's key export, oil, down sharply."
• Auto Makers Flock to Web to Woo Chinese Buyers [WSJ] "Global auto makers think the Internet is the way into the hearts of a new generation of Chinese car enthusiasts. Both foreign and domestic auto makers here are pouring ad money into online ventures, even as their overall spending remains flat. Market-tracking firm iResearch expects outlays for online auto marketing to reach 1.75 billion yuan, or roughly $256 million, this year, up from 1.38 billion yuan in 2008."
• Professor beaten ahead of Tiananmen anniversary [ABC] "The approaching 20th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown has brought tensions to a head, with a 75-year-old, retired professor brutally beaten for trying to honour the memory of a Chinese leader who supported the students in 1989."

Fast and the Furious: Shanghai Shift? more ›

Randy Cohen, New York Times "The Ethicist" columnist, might be inclined to think so. Granted, Cohen's anti-auto podcast from last week is about Manhattan, but several of his arguments already seem applicable to Shanghai (and, in 2020, when our city's subway system looks like this, there will be few ethical excuses for owning personal cars in most of Shanghai). Cohen lays out five reasons why cars and Manhattanites shouldn't mix. Here's No. 1: "Cars kill. If you introduced a transportation system by announcing, 'It'll only kill 40,000 people a year,' it's hard to believe it would gain widespread popularity." (The number of "traffic deaths" in China was down to 73,484 in 2008, but up 100 percent over the last 20 years.) Listen to all New York Times podcasts here or subscribe via iTunes. They're all free. more ›

Danwei directed us to the embedded six-month old video of a short local NBC News piece on a Chinese-made three-wheel "car" available from a dealer in Webster, New York (it's actually available in several places in the U.S., like Michigan). The Webster dealer (we think this is his MySpace page ... yes, MySpace) claims women love the Wildfire WF650-C. The jury is still out on that one. more ›

Effective today, China will raise gasoline and diesel fuel prices 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively, news that sent global oil prices down nearly US$5 a barrel. Electricity prices are also expected to rise sharply. Reuters offers a poorly displayed chart that shows China's domestic gasoline prices, fixed since November 1, have climbed 95 percent and diesel prices have more than doubled since 2003. Retail fuel prices in China are expected to increase to $3.05 per gallon for gas and $3.31 for diesel. Says the New York Times, "Costlier fuel and electricity could prompt businesses and individuals across China to use less of it, slowing somewhat China’s voracious increase in oil consumption in recent years as well as its steep rise in emissions of global warming gases." [Sources: AP, Reuters, LAT, NYT, CNN] more ›

Shanghaiist thinks there aren’t enough cars in Shanghai. The air, quite frankly, is incredibly clean. There’s nary a spot of traffic. And really, couldn’t taxi drivers be more conscientious by honking their horns just a LITTLE more often? Shanghai needs more cars. Definitely. And what better place to encourage additional consumption than the Shanghai Auto Show! more ›