GM China Sales Indicate Strong February

China will most likely announce strong sales numbers for February. Not as strong as in January, when sales of all motor vehicles shot up by 126 percent, but still strong. How do I know this without the official numbers? By looking at GM. GM has always been a good leading indicator for China’s sales.

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Toyota Boss Bows To Beijing

„Itai!“ Or rather, „tong!“ Ouch, that hurts: Toyota boss Akio Toyoda bowed deeply to 300 reporters assembled in Beijing, and to 1.3b Chinese who could watch the drama live on national TV. Four times in one hour, Toyota’s chief “apologized to customers in China for the company’s quality problems and emphasized the significance of the nation’s fast-growing market to his company,” as Shanghai Daily has it. There must be nothing more painful for an upstanding Japanese captain of industry than to bow deeply in front of the Chinese. But as they say in China: „bú tòng bù qiáng.” No pain, no gain. Even more astonishing:

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  • Offbeat Oddity The RAV4, and I say this as someone who currently owns a 2014 CR-V. My aunt has a 2018 CR-V that has had a lot of electrical issues, and I don't trust the turbo and CVT to last as long as Toyota's NA engine and 8-speed automatic. Plus, the RAV4 looks sportier and doesn't have the huge front overhang.
  • Offbeat Oddity I'd go with Mazda, especially now that there's no more cylinder deactivation on the 2024 NA motor. It's around $4-5k less than the Toyota with similar equipment, and I think reliability is probably very close between them.Regarding reliability, hasn't this generation of RAV4 taken a hit? I know it's not rated as highly in Consumer Reports, and there were teething issues during the first few years. I'm surprised it's not mentioned in more reviews- even Jack Baruth's. I'm sure the bugs have been worked out by now, though.
  • Peter I want a self driving red ragtop 1958 Plymouth Fury. Just like the car in the movie Christine.
  • Mgh57 Doesn't seem like this tech is ready for prime time.
  • Nathan The Ram is the most boring looking of the full size trucks, kind of like a Tundra.If they cancel the Ram Classic, I hope a full resign makes the Ram at least look interesting.