Argh, China. Dont do what we did :(

[MrAngryFace]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25877569/

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.

[Great Rumbler]

As if pollution wasn't already a problem in China...

[Cormacaroni]

Yeah, you motherfuckers! Do as we say, not as we do!

[MrAngryFace]

Of course we'll look like hypocrites, but they gotta take our word for it.

[Madrun Badrun]

This is how they want it.  The faster they use up your oil the sooner your economy dies.     

[Fresh Prince]

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.  

[MrAngryFace]

Lets not pretend a HUMMER is a fuel economy choice.

[laesperanzapaz]

i think you guys are overrestimating the chinese's ability to live US standards of living

for one thing, you guys prolly have little idea how 1.3 billion popoulation translates into a chinese urban city

lemme put it to you this way:

some chinese cities are already tremendously crowded and jammed streets

.......from bikes

think about that for second

also

if these people are making our toys and socks for so little wage

what the hell makes you think they will afford to buy a car and all its gas

but that said

when china becomes the next superpower, remember that america reelected bush.  maybe next time, america will learn.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[MrAngryFace]

Its not about consumer oil use so much as industrial use. I mean that's neat you took your knowledge from a 60 Minutes special on China to put 'lots of bikes' and 'increase in oil demand' together and come out with a bad argument.

[Fresh Prince]

China doesn't plan on just being the cheap manufacturer for the world. It wants it's own Apple, Rolex, BMW  etc and with this comes with the profits staying in China.

Also the Chinese Government will not allow anything to stand in the way of economic progress even if it means creating (as it has in the past) cities from scratch or expanding cities at the expense of it's citizens.

[laesperanzapaz]

.

[Fresh Prince]

Ah I forgot the rolleyes in the spoiler

[Pharmacy]

good for them, global warming isnt even fucking real it doesnt matter

[Pharmacy]

mansourahaidi121 (21 hours ago) Show Hide
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hi r kelly is gteat sinnger kool from mansour Ahaidi p.s make more great musics with different peoples kool cya

[Bocsius]

Get Hu Jintao on the red phone and let him know the bombing begins in five minutes.

[Brehvolution]

Some people are just that shallow. There are only 2 reasons to own a hummer: Gluttony and Sloth.

[Fresh Prince]

good for them, global warming isnt even fucking real it doesnt matter

This is more about petrol than global warming.

[Kestastrophe]

I don't have a problem with people who own SUVs, so long as they don't complain about oil prices, the economy, and hyperinflation.

[AdmiralViscen]

THey still don't say what that 43% increase translates to in market share. The Chinese auto market as a whole is up like 20% this year, so one niche part of it being up 43 isn't so shocking.

[Eric P]

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSBNG12910820080604?sp=true

[Mandark]

some chinese cities are already tremendously crowded and jammed streets

.......from bikes

think about that for second

The more people demand cars, the more demand there will be for car-friendly planning, which means more sprawl and more roads which means more demand for cars.  When you subsidize certain types of transit you wind up with all sorts of land use decisions that keep you locked into that path.

The article Eric P linked is a pretty good summary of the oil subsidy situation.  China's leadership doesn't want to deal with the public unrest that would come with making people pay full price.

[Phoenix Dark]

"In China, size matters," says Zhang