Posted on 07/10/2018 3:00:52 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A state-controlled economy is forcing the world's largest car market to embrace electric car solutions, and fast. Here's what China can tell us about the automotive future.
I clung for life to my translator as we spun in circles through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, trying to take in the sheer madness of the Beijing Motor Show. An American can catch a few familiar sights; there’s a Chevy Volt, but branded as the Buick Velite 5 in China, a place where Buick remains a premium brand. I spy a Toyota Camry, but here it’s called a “Levin” and is a plug-in hybrid. Mostly, the New International Exhibition Center abounds with a kaleidoscope of mysterious vehicles displayed by the 80 or so Chinese brands such as Dongfeng, Chang’an, SAIC Motor, and First Automotive Works.
The chaos within the car show mimics the madness without. The streets of Beijing are clogged with L.A.-style gridlock all hours of the day. While Americans now buy about 17 million new cars and trucks per year, Chinese drivers purchased 22 million in 2017, a number that may rise to 29 million in 2018....
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
The tipping point, where Communist rule impedes wealth production to the point that there is a revolt, approaches. Just one more reason why Beijing desperately wants to cling to current unfair trade practices and also why they will not be able to do so.
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.
"People seemed to be content. Fifty dollars paid the rent.
Freaks were in a circus tent. Those were the days!"
The Chinese have become more socialist as their economic engines fired.
I was in the gambling mecca of Maccau, China not long ago......the Las Vegas of China.
Most Americans are totally unaware of the modernization that has hit China. Caddilac is one of the top selling US cars......
“I spy a Toyota Camry, but here it’s called a “Levin” and is a plug-in hybrid.”
Oh, its way more complex than that.
Toyota makes two cars (Well, the two we’ll talk about). The Camry and the Crown. They make them at the same time. Camry is a word for Crown. So in Japan they make a Crown and a Crown.
The Levin is a Corolla. Levin means Lightning. The Toyota Corolla is a design program where the brightest and best designers get to have their designs put out in the world for the ultimate in testing. That’s why in the 80s a Corolla was many different things : RWD sporty car, a 4 door FWD car and a FWD econo hatch all in the same year. The 4 door hatch was a totally different car as well.. but all were called the Corolla. The problem is in the name.
They like to say that these names mean nothing, but they are wrong.
“Corolla” is a japanese “sexual art” of arranging floral pedals around the genitals.
“Levin” and “Trueno” are “Lightning” and “Thunder” respectively. For many years the two were used to describe the same basic car with different front end treatments (Again, because of the design schools and the bright designers who made them).
The Celica is a japan twist on the tale of Circe where Celica turned men into Swans and Dragons (depending on the region. This is why some Celica logos were swans and some were dragons)
The Supra was introduced to the US as the Celica “Supira” which is “Super” in Japanese. But at the ports they only got the word Supra out so it was created first to be in the US only.. then it went back to the island as Supra. Because of this, even the US celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Supra in 1997. A falsehood because they were brought to the US in 1978.
I ramble, but I’m a big old Toyota fan (For me, the entire car industry died in 1991). But either way, that Levin wasn’t a Camry. They all look the damned same now so whatever.
The Camry is also the Lexus ES300 right?
it’s Popular Mechanics ... not a word they publish should be believed ... like all mags today, they’ve gone full tilt leftist progressive and publish nothing but pure propaganda for the left ...
“The Camry is also the Lexus ES300 right?”
Even outside of the strange licencing that goes on (Did you know that all but the first two generations of Chevy Cavaliers are sold as Toyota Cavaliers throughout the pacific markets ? Toyota made the later generations of that car)
Many of their new cars are based on the Camry. Even the SUVs. The automotive world is simply a mess.
I was the biggest .. I mean BIGGEST fan of Toyota throughout my life. But then in 1991 the whole thing fell apart. They just make junk.
And now the junk has spread like a cancer. Everyone makes junk. What used to be the cars that they spent time on are now junk. The Dodge Challenger was a great car, with great people making it. Now it’s junk too.
No one cares about cars anymore.. least of all the manufacturers. They’re going to a driver-less model shortly anyway.
We still drive (not lately though) a Ford Freestyle which has a rare 3rd row seat for an SUV of that size. Hasn’t given us too much trouble. My first wife’s 1984 Corolla 4 door that she brought into the marriage was a pretty trouble-free car as I recall.
In many ways the Freestyle is one of the coolest cars around. The trunk is, to say the least, ENORMOUS. It’s more usable in that area than even my Suburban.
But to get that trunk things had to be moved around and compacted. The transmission being the biggest of those items.
It runs a CVT transmission that is weak and prone to issues. Getting to it costs more in labor than the hardware. I see them all the time for sale in my area.. Cheap.
The 84 Corolla is one of my favorites.. but in the RWD 2 door. The SR5/GTS is still one of the best cars ever made. Outside of the rusting issues.
The GTs will fetch you over $25k if you can find one. It had the supercharged 4AGZE in 1989, like the MR2 did.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.