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Chinese restrictions on truck traffic and chemical transport during the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics are forcing plant cutbacks among local automakers, reports Automotive News China. The restrictions have forced Beijing Hyundai and supplier Visteon, among other automotive factories, to reduce shifts and temporarily close factories, putting the kibosh on any Great Leaps Forward, at least during the games. More »
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In celebration of the launch of the Mini Cooper Clubman in the Chinese market, Mini has chopped the back half off a handful of cars so they can be converted into rickshaws. Mini is no doubt trying to capitalize on the global spotlight placed on Beijing with some kind of sporting festival going on right now, but if they had asked us, we would have done things differently. More »
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Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics are coming up in only a couple of months, we decided to take a look at the ancient Chinese city through the magical powers of Google Earth. What we found was much like a Chinese Dragon, both beautiful and terrible. The preponderance of Geographic Web content on the digital globe has us thinking a trip there would be most awesome, but the traffic and interchanges would make a New Englander cringe. More »
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The people's car will be playing an automotive role during the people's games of this summers Beijing Olympics. Volkswagen is the exclusive automotive sponsor of the upcoming smoggy games and New Beetles will be the official shuttle for all manner of Olympic official and Government overseer. What you have here are the winning submissions from Volkswagens Vmagination online Olympic art car design campaign, held in China. Adding these snazzy paint jobs to the long-in-the-tooth bug will make them a bit more visible to the spectators and cameras alike. We think this is a pretty savvy move for VW, since this will probably be the most watched Olympics in quite a while. More »
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