China fast climbing the charts on the automotive recordbooks

According to a lengthy breakdown of the Chinese car trends in the Economist, China is currently the third-largest country for cars and boasts the most highway miles outside of the US. It's amazing hunger for cars is projected to grow to 10-20% every year for several years, making it potentially a rival market in size to the US. The Economist credits a centralized economic strategy for guiding investments and building huge amounts of infrastructure such as factories, roads and a new F1 racetrack. Another interesting item is that cars are being skipped in favor for air travel in going long distances. Toll roads, high gas prices and lack of good maps prevent the growth of a "road trip" culture. Despite most people driving just a few miles a day, residents are beginning to clog the skyline with pollution and with incomes rising fast, the future looks even more crowded with cars.