How China is at war with its pickup trucks

[Haltech]

Filed under: Car Buying, Truck, China, Government/Legal



Create a law, and people try to find some way to get around it. That's basically a fact of life whether you're in the US or the People's Republic of China. For example, recently in the PRC, a man attempted to convert his pickup into a sedan to avoid road tolls, and photos of the vehicle became a story in Chinese media. The whole incident shined a light on the government's antagonism towards trucks (like the Great Wall Wingle 5 pictured above).

According to Automotive News, this intrepid driver made his attempt during the National Day earlier in October. For the holiday, China removed its road tolls for sedans, which made it free for them to drive on highways. This fellow apparently had places to go, and he converted his four-door truck into a "sedan." Although, his undertaking was pretty mediocre by just installing a sloping bed cover with a hatch on the back of his pickup. The endeavor didn't fool police, either, because they fined him for the scheme. Still, it was a noble effort, we suppose.

Not many owners are willing to go to the lengths of this guy, but trucks in China are fighting an uphill battle for popularity. According to Automotive News, a legal loophole means that in some cities, all pickups are classified as commercial vehicles, and they are kept from entering. Those limits keep sales to less than two percent of the country's massive auto market, and those numbers are continuing to fall. No wonder automakers like Great Wall want to sell models in the more pickup-friendly US.How China is at war with its pickup trucks originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Oct 2014 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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[modit]

Thanks for the share. It is pretty interesting how in the last 10 years china has gone from making ugly terrible cars to cars that look modern and quality wise have almost caught up to our standards. Mind you engine power and size arent there yet but at this rate i give it another 5 years.

In the last 10 years china's auto makers have made almost the same amount of progress we made in 25 years. Some company's a closer to 40 years of progress in only 10.

Mind you they copied a lot of our products to learn how to make the progress.