Via The Daily Telegraph: "Chinese citizens are outraged after a Ferrari sports car leaves tyre marks on Nanjing's ancient city wall during a publicity stunt for the car maker's Chinese dealership." more ›

Via WSJ: "The Beijing International Auto Show is quickly becoming the center of the global car industry. European luxury brands such as Jaguar, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Lamborghini all brought world-premiere vehicles to the stage in China. WSJ's automotive critic Dan Neil takes a walk through the show and gives us his reactions." more ›

It's not been a good week for Chinese women in Western media. First this poor pensioner failed spectacularly in her attempt to alleviate stress, and now a woman in Beijing has gone and given fuel to the female/Chinese driver stereotypes. Apparently she smashed through a bush and a lamppost before claiming her free car wash because she accelerated 'a bit' too hard. more ›

It appears the world's dumbest gangster left a phone lying around with photos of his crib, RMB stacks, cars, and favorite shakedowns for anyone to snatch and upload to the web for everyone to see. In fact, the scenario seems almost a bit too perfect, what with him proudly posing in front of cars sporting a hideous back tattoo that makes Steve O's look like a Renaissance mural. One could even say he did it himself, or this "Jong" Gotti may not really be the OG the pics suggest, but just another wannabe. more ›

The US president only rides the US-made Cadillac. The UK premier rides the UK-made Jaguar. The French president rides France's Peugeot. The German chancellor rides in Germany's Audi. The Italian premier rides Italy's Maserati. The Japanese premier rides Japan's Toyota, and the Korean president rides Korea's Hyundai. I believe some day, Chinese leaders will only ride Chinese cars, and that some day, when Obama comes to China to deliver speeches after his retirement, he too will be riding on Chinese cars. more ›

A car crash on Sunday in Beijing's Haidian district near Baofu Temple in which the driver of the Ferrari died and two female passengers were injured has led to widespread speculation over the identity of the driver and the blocking of the keyword "Ferrari" on Chinese social networks. more ›

All you need to know about China's car industry in one infographic. (via US-China Today) more ›

The United States has always been infamous for its gas-guzzling behemoths of luxury cars - the Cadillac Escalade, the Denali, and any one of the Hummer monstrosities. But whereas the US has begun downsizing with smaller models of former luxury SUV's and various hybrids, China's super-rich demand a new breed of monster-sized motors. more ›

Ever felt like the media is trying to convince you that pretty much everything is bad for your health? Well you're about to get that feeling once more, as a study has shown that the total air pollution caused by electronic cars in China may be worse than conventional vehicles. 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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Chinese automaker Chery has entered a 50-50 joint venture with investment firm Israel Corp to launch Qoros, a new made-in-China car brand which aims to “combine German design quality and craftsmanship with Japanese convenience and functionality”. Former Volkswagen AG executive Volker Steinwascher will serve as vice chairman of the new brand which aims to generate annual sales of about 150,000 vehicles a year by 2016, half of which will be exported to Europe. more ›

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 ›

Yesterday in Chengdu, A woman in red dove off a bridge right into the path of speeding vehicles, whose apathetic drivers then appeared none too willing to lend a hand. 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 ›

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Our favorite roadshow philanthropist is at it again! Billionaire and rogue disaster relief respondent Chen Guangbiao (陈光标) made headlines again this week when he mercilessly bashed a perfectly good Mercedes-Benz to smithereens with a giant robotic arm, all in the name of the environment! more ›

Now that China has become the world's largest car market, Chinese government officials pursuing quality instead of quantity to make the next great leap forward. more ›

In his latest blogpost, Jonathan Watts, The Guardian's Asia environment correspondent, shares with us three startling figures:

First, the number of cars on the planet has just passed the billion mark. Second, almost half of the new growth is in China. Third, Toyota managed to sell only one Prius in China last year. That's right. The world's most commercially successful hybrid car has found only one buyer in the fastest growing market. SUV sales, by contrast, are surging.

Chinese drivers, our heart goes out to you (when you're not trying to kill us on a daily basis). We know of the Book of Job-like struggles you face just to get your hands on a car, now one of the main face-maintaining/wife-snagging accoutrements in contemporary China. Import taxes and price markups are absurd: the starting cost of a 2011 BMW 650i Convertible in the United States begins at 550,880RMB ($85,550 USD), while the same car in China starts at 2,039,000RMB ($316,650 USD). more ›

Also known as "dogging" (or is that a term for sex in a public place in general?), bumping uglies in your car has been a favorite pasttime of pimply teens and enthusiastic lovers since the dawn of the automobile. Apparently that trend has arrived with full force in China, where it is known as "car quaking" (车震, chēzhèn). Thanks to this post circulating on the Chinese internet, we now have a map of the best places in Shanghai to grab a park 'n' pet. more ›

"Shanghai's car plate prices hit a 30-month high yesterday despite there being less bidders. Dealers said the price has been rising for six consecutive months and prompted buyers to offer higher bids. The lowest price for a plate at this month's auction was 48,500 yuan (US$7,461), up 1,100 yuan from a month earlier, according to the organizer Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co. The price was the highest since January 2008 when a new auction system was launched. The average price also gained 1,155 yuan to 48,855 yuan for June. The local government offered 9,000 car plates this month, the same amount for May. But the quota has been increased from February's 7,500 and 8,000 for April after the average price surged 26 percent this year. For June, the number of bidders was 22,474, lower than the 25,708 last month." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

Photos by Peter Lee. more ›

CNN's Eunice Yoon speaks to top honchos of foreign carmakers at the ongoing Shanghai Auto Show and asks them why they're creating China-only brands.
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China's got talent -- no kidding! Look what we've got in Taizhou, Zhejiang province -- a man driving not one, but two bumper cars on a busy city street. And the uniquely talented individual even tries to overtake a car at the lights! Fortunately for the other motorists, traffic police caught up with the man before he created any mayhem, and told the poor soul having the time of his life that bumper cars are meant for the amusement park and not, erm, meant for the roads. And fortunately for us too, surveillance cameras were on hand to catch all the action. Enjoy:
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"As the transport chief, a third of my time is spent on the ground at construction sites and projects. As you may know, 94% of Yunnan is comprised of hills especially around Nujiang and Diqing. Transport is not very convenient, and if there isn't enough horsepower, you can't even get around. Hence, it's best to equip ourselves with good vehicles, so as to ensure safety. It's unrealistic to have public servants to go down to the villages in vehicles that cost less than RMB250,000." more ›

Remember that 2008 ad by Citroen featuring a scowling Chairman Mao? This time, yet another carmaker in another country has done it again. In a new ad for its Trezia model, Subaru Italy has used a feminised image of Chairman Mao to sell the car, which promises “a high driving position and superior internal space worthy of a revolution”. Needless to say, the Chinese aren't happy. In fact, they're so unhappy that the potential deal between Subaru and Chery to manufacture the Forrester here may be called off.
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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 ›

Heads up Ferrari-lovers, you may want to get yourself down to the Pearl Tower fast. To celebrate the 999th Ferrari sold in China, the luxury sports maker put on a huge exhibition, showing 15 of its coveted car models next to the Oriental Pearl Tower. more ›