The Economist on China's Vehicle Industry

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(1) Chinese carmakers | Still in Second Gear; When will China produce a car brand people want to drive?  Economist, May 5, 2012.
http://www.economist.com/node/21554192

Quote:

"Tianjin is home to the new assembly plant of Great Wall Motors. * * * Machines seem to outnumber people: labour is no longer cheap in coastal China.

"More than half of the cars and light vans sold in China have foreign badges on their bonnets. Most of these are made in joint-venture factories in China in which local firms have a stake but their foreign partners provide the technology and designs. Great Wall is one of the few Chinese makers to lack such a foreign partner. Also unlike most domestic firms, it is largely privately owned, so it has not enjoyed the largesse the state

"Last year they [China's carmakers]exported almost 900,000 cars.

Note:
(a) Great Wall Steed double-cab pickup
(i) For image, search images.google.com.
(ii) pickup truck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_truck
(A true four-door pickup is a crew cab, double cab or dual cab. It features seating for up to five or six people with a rear bench seat and two full-size front-hinged doors on both sides)

(b) saloon (automobile)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saloon_(automobile)
(sedan in American English)
(c) runabout
(i) (n): "a light usually open wagon, car, or motorboat"
(ii) runabout (car)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runabout_(car)
(iii) (n): "INFORMAL  a small car for short journeys"
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/runabout

(2) Electric cars in China | Not Yet; Look before you leapfrog. Economist, May 5, 2012.
http://www.economist.com/node/21554195
("Visitors can take the E6, the [BYD] firm’s new electric car, for a drive—but try to accelerate and the engineers get nervous. Like the firm, the car is sluggish")

Note: The Hertz Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hertz_Corporation
(founded by Walter L Jacobs in 1918, who in 1923 sold it to John D Hertz)