Posted on 04/21/2008 2:52:18 PM PDT by NRG1973
BEIJING (AP) -- High, wide and fuel-hungry, the gleaming black Cadillac Escalade on display at the Beijing auto show is an unlikely car for an era of record oil prices. But while sport utility vehicle sales in the U.S. are tumbling, automakers are finding that for China's newly prosperous car buyers, bigger is still better.
So General Motors Corp. has made the Escalade a star of its auto-show display and is eager to get it on the market here.
"If you look at the fastest-growing market segments in China, there are two -- SUVs and luxury cars," said Joseph Y.H. Liu, GM China's vice president for sales and marketing.
Auto sales in China are booming, with analysts and automakers forecasting growth at 15-20 percent this year. But demand for the biggest vehicles is even stronger, with sales of luxury cars and SUVs expected to surge by 40-45 percent.
The phenomenon is welcome news for automakers seeing little or no growth in the United States, Europe and Japan. They also make fatter profits from sales of high-end vehicles than from economy models.
Sales have been boosted by economic growth that has topped 10 percent for five straight years and a surge in real estate and stock prices that created a new crop of Chinese billionaires.
Buyers of land yachts have also been unintended beneficiaries of a government policy meant to help the poor. Beijing has tried to shield farmers and the urban poor from high oil prices by freezing pump prices for gasoline and diesel, keeping them among the world's lowest. That takes the sting out of filling up a gas guzzler.
Gas costs 5.34 yuan (76 cents) a liter or 20.5 yuan ($2.90) a gallon.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
At this rate, all it will take is a couple more positive news stories - BIG oil reserve in North Dakota, HUGE natural gas reserve in New England, down to PA, etc... With good news like this, oil just keeps on going up, Up, UP!!!
I would think that Won-Ton pickup trucks would do quite well in China as well.
Achieved record mpg last fillup.
No faster than 70mph (always use cruise control)
manual trans.
K&N Air filter (+1mpg)
Airbox noise inhibitor removed (33% airflow reduction)
Mobil 1 (+1mpg)
Low restriction muffler (+1mpg)
The cheapest I could find it here in NC was $3.47/gallon today. This has got to affect tourism this summer.
$3.35 here in MD ... and headed North.
Hey wait a minute... I thought the Chinese were starving to death because we are burning food instead of oil... ;’) /rimshot
Gore Won’t Ask Wealthy Hollywoodans to Alter Lifestyle to Save Planet
Newsbusters
Posted on 04/20/2008 7:59:02 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004565/posts
Poll: Make gas guzzlers pay higher fees
San Francisco Chronicle | 4/3/8 | Michael Cabanatuan
Posted on 04/03/2008 7:57:13 AM PDT by SmithL
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996078/posts
Retail gas hits record $3.50 a gallon as oil marches higher
AP | 04/21/08 | ADAM SCHRECK
Posted on 04/21/2008 6:13:11 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2005015/posts
Oil spikes to record above $117 a barrel after tanker attack
Breitbart | Apr 21, 2008
Posted on 04/21/2008 2:29:36 AM PDT by dawn53
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004613/posts
Attacks in Middle East, Nigeria send oil to record $117.40
Associated Press | 4-21-08 | Pablo Gorondi
Posted on 04/21/2008 5:18:06 AM PDT by RWB Patriot
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004656/posts
OIL NEARS $117 A BARREL ...
NEALZ NUZE | Monday, April 21, 2008 | NEAL BOORTZ
Posted on 04/21/2008 6:10:30 AM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004690/posts
Crude oil prices spike above $117 a barrel
www.pr-inside.com | 04/21/2008 | Staff
Posted on 04/21/2008 12:27:14 PM PDT by Red Badger
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004856/posts
Ahmadinejad Says Oil at $115 a Barrel is Too Low, Calls for Higher Prices
Fox News | 4/19/08 | AP
Posted on 04/21/2008 4:49:11 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004962/posts
Russia paying price of oil strategy
Financial Times | 4/20/08 | Catherine Belton
Posted on 04/21/2008 6:33:19 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2005029/posts
Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries
DOE | 4-14-2008 | DOE
Posted on 04/21/2008 1:25:16 AM PDT by Westlander
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004608/posts
Gore Admits Financial ‘Stake’ In Advancing Global Warming Hysteria
Newsbusters | 4/11/08 | Noel Sheppard
Posted on 04/12/2008 7:10:55 PM PDT by dangerdoc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000744/posts
Al Gore Responds to CRC, Denies Global Warming is His Meal Ticket
Capital Research Center | April 6, 2008 | Matthew Vadum
Posted on 04/06/2008 1:22:29 PM PDT by vadum
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997643/posts
The Media Ignore Al Gore’s Planned Global Warming Profiteering
NewsBusters | April 1, 2008 | Matthew Vadum
Posted on 04/02/2008 6:52:03 AM PDT by vadum
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995443/posts
Apropos of nothing — I was running low Sunday, filled up at $3.38.9 a gallon at the warehouse club station. The price had fallen a penny by early Monday (just after midnight).
We’re paying an average of $A1.41 a Litre. There are 3.7854 litres to a US gallon. So, if my maths is correct, a US gallon of gas (petrol we call it) is costing $5.3374 in Oz...of which approx 40% is TAX!
The $A - $US exchange rate is 93.7 in your favour.
Oh I'd say about the same time China is awarded exclusive or majority rights to Iraqi oil. Of course we'll be hearing how this is great for the U.S. and it was all part of a great strategic plan etc. Sheik/Prince Holdy U Handy will smile in approval as well. In the mean time everybody will ignore the fact we've been had by those we elect.
Samuel Johnson. A dictionary of the English language -- He defines excise as a "hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid".
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