SONGJIANG, China - Nodding his head to the disco music blaring out of his car's nine speakers, Zhang Linsen swings the shiny, black Hummer H2 out of his company's gates and on to the spacious four-lane road.
Running a hand over his closely shaved head, Zhang scans the expanse of high-end suburban offices and villas that a decade ago was just another patch of farmland outside of Shanghai. To his left is a royal blue sedan with a couple and a baby, in front of him a lone young woman being chauffeured in a van.
"In China, size matters," says Zhang, the 44-year-old founder of a media and graphic design company. "People want to have a car that shows off their status in society. No one wants to buy small."
Zhang grasps the wheels of his Hummer, called "hanma" or "fierce horse" in Chinese, and hits the accelerator.
Car ownership in China is exploding, and it's not only cars but also sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other gas-guzzling rides. Elsewhere in the world, the popularity of these vehicles has tumbled as the cost of oil has soared. But in China, the number of SUVs sold rose 43 percent in May compared with the previous year, and full-size sedans were up 15 percent. Indeed, China's demand for gas is much of the reason for the dramatic run-up in global oil prices.
Yeah, you motherfuckers! Do as we say, not as we do!There is already a move to smaller cars in the west. Though since petrol is being subsidised I guess the Chinese can afford hungrier cars. Anyway I think the Chinese don't have the delusion they need a SUV to haul around 4 kids, a dead stag and a store room of sporting and camping equipment and realise a bigger car is just a status symbol.
good for them, global warming isnt even fucking real it doesnt matterThis is more about petrol than global warming.
some chinese cities are already tremendously crowded and jammed streets
.......from bikes
think about that for second
"In China, size matters," says Zhang