Sara S
07-21-2009, 05:11 AM
from delancyplace.com:
In today's excerpt - Chinese cars:
"In 2004 China shook automakers worldwide
with the incredible speed and
strictness of the auto fuel efficiency
standards it enacted, which are 5 to 10
percent stricter than U.S. standards and
among the toughest in the world.
"The task of writing the rules fell to the
Ministry of Standards. ... Yin Minhan,
director of the Department of Industry and
Transportation, ... is the epitome of bright
efficiency:
Since 2000 he's worked on energy standards
for a fast-forward social history of Chinese
consumerism: first electric motors, then
refrigerators, air
conditioners, and now cars.
"Yin's group met with consultants from China
as well as the Energy
Foundation, a U.S.-funded NGO, and then
traveled to Japan, the United
States, and Europe to gather opinions on
efficiency regimes. They decided to create a
scheme that rewarded smaller cars and imposed
stricter
fuel efficiency standards on larger ones. The
standards go into effect in
two stages. In the first stage, only one
U.S.-made SUV passes. The second
stage is harder still. 'We learned our
lessons from the U.S.,' says Wang
Junwei, one of the five hundred or so people
involved in auto standards
at the ministry. 'We are going to clamp down
on SUVs early!'
"But there was a bigger strategy behind the
rules than merely saving
fuel and preventing pollution. The ultimate
intent of the regulations was
to make
Chinese-built cars more exportable to
high-end markets, such
as Europe. Designed to pressure joint
ventures like GM and Volkswagen
to send their newest technology to China, the
standards are part of
the slow revolution that could make China the
new Detroit.
"When the Chinese bureaucrats in charge of
the standards listened to Detroit auto
executives denigrate fuel economy standards,
they heard an
opportunity. The team perceived Detroit's
reluctance as a strategic weakness and a
clear way for China's industry to become more
competitive.
'China doesn't subscribe to the idea that
what's good for GM is good for
the country,' an American consultant who
worked with the government
team says with a laugh. ...
"[Outside of Shanghai] sits six square miles
named Shanghai
International Auto City, recently carved from
the rice fields of a town
called Jiading. Three years ago Shanghai
decided it wanted to build a
place for its auto industry to become the
largest in the world. Out went
Jiading's farmers and little factories. In
went Tongji University's College of
Automotive Studies, spaces for joint-venture
auto assembly plants, parts
suppliers, testing facilities, a car museum,
a wind tunnel, a golf course, and
a $320 million state-of-the-art Formula One
track - in the shape of the
first character of Shanghai's name, which
means, roughly, 'upward.' "
Lisa Margonelli, Oil on the Brain, Nan
A. Talese/Doubleday, Copyright 2007 by Lisa
Margonelli, pp. 269-270, 272.
----------------------------------------
In today's excerpt - Chinese cars:
"In 2004 China shook automakers worldwide
with the incredible speed and
strictness of the auto fuel efficiency
standards it enacted, which are 5 to 10
percent stricter than U.S. standards and
among the toughest in the world.
"The task of writing the rules fell to the
Ministry of Standards. ... Yin Minhan,
director of the Department of Industry and
Transportation, ... is the epitome of bright
efficiency:
Since 2000 he's worked on energy standards
for a fast-forward social history of Chinese
consumerism: first electric motors, then
refrigerators, air
conditioners, and now cars.
"Yin's group met with consultants from China
as well as the Energy
Foundation, a U.S.-funded NGO, and then
traveled to Japan, the United
States, and Europe to gather opinions on
efficiency regimes. They decided to create a
scheme that rewarded smaller cars and imposed
stricter
fuel efficiency standards on larger ones. The
standards go into effect in
two stages. In the first stage, only one
U.S.-made SUV passes. The second
stage is harder still. 'We learned our
lessons from the U.S.,' says Wang
Junwei, one of the five hundred or so people
involved in auto standards
at the ministry. 'We are going to clamp down
on SUVs early!'
"But there was a bigger strategy behind the
rules than merely saving
fuel and preventing pollution. The ultimate
intent of the regulations was
to make
Chinese-built cars more exportable to
high-end markets, such
as Europe. Designed to pressure joint
ventures like GM and Volkswagen
to send their newest technology to China, the
standards are part of
the slow revolution that could make China the
new Detroit.
"When the Chinese bureaucrats in charge of
the standards listened to Detroit auto
executives denigrate fuel economy standards,
they heard an
opportunity. The team perceived Detroit's
reluctance as a strategic weakness and a
clear way for China's industry to become more
competitive.
'China doesn't subscribe to the idea that
what's good for GM is good for
the country,' an American consultant who
worked with the government
team says with a laugh. ...
"[Outside of Shanghai] sits six square miles
named Shanghai
International Auto City, recently carved from
the rice fields of a town
called Jiading. Three years ago Shanghai
decided it wanted to build a
place for its auto industry to become the
largest in the world. Out went
Jiading's farmers and little factories. In
went Tongji University's College of
Automotive Studies, spaces for joint-venture
auto assembly plants, parts
suppliers, testing facilities, a car museum,
a wind tunnel, a golf course, and
a $320 million state-of-the-art Formula One
track - in the shape of the
first character of Shanghai's name, which
means, roughly, 'upward.' "
Lisa Margonelli, Oil on the Brain, Nan
A. Talese/Doubleday, Copyright 2007 by Lisa
Margonelli, pp. 269-270, 272.
----------------------------------------