China’s Green Beat released a hilarious new episode about public transportation in Beijing. It is quite a departure from its previous three documentary-style episodes, which I reviewed in my previous post here. Apparently, the Green Brothers are preparing to launch a new design soon, complete with more info and episodes, so stay tuned!

Have a happy Monday!

“Sun Zhe’s Public Transport Adventures”

(For those of you who aren’t up to speed on your ad slogans, Chevy’s official campaign is “An American Revolution.” Guess it’s kind of lame to explain the allusions of your blog post title, but “Drove My Chevy to the levy and painted it with angry slogans” was already taken. Thanks, Imagethief.)

This news is a little bit overdue, but I was so absorbed in the toy recalls that I neglected to notice another consumer complaints story…

Chevy consumers in Beijing are taking their complaints to the street. Literally.

According to Josh’s blog at the China Expat:

If you have been in the city over the last six weeks you may have noticed lines of black and white SUVs lining the roads near the Silk Market, Ya-Show, and Worker’s Stadium Road North. Painted on them are slogans in Chinese advocating the rights of consumers and complaining about car manufacturer Chevrolet.

After investing tens of thousands of RMB for the SUVs, an amount one protester described as “my blood, sweat, and money,” the buyers were informed that they could not get license plates. In effect this meant that driving them carried the risk of police confiscation.

Apparently, it is the responsibility of the local dealership to provide the plates, but the company never followed through. The angry protesters, sans license plates, launched an online protest, posting their grievances on Sohu.com, China’s popular Web 2.0 community. Their comments were removed after a Sohu spokesperson deemed the content not “appropriate” for the Web site.

Left with no other options, the car owners turned their vehicles into billboards, painting angry messages on the sides and leaving newspaper articles about the conflict in the windows.

Josh at China Expat analyzes the protest:

It is difficult to know if this is an isolated incident or part of a broader trend of Chinese willing to push back at perceived injustices. While the fight is unusually public, it is directed at two privately owned businesses, one of which is American. Perhaps that is the reason why the protests have been allowed to continue for so long in such clear sight. There have been no accusations hurled at any government agencies, and only one Chinese merchant of dubious reputation is affected. Yet, as evidenced by the removal of the Sohu posting, it is clear that someone with power, possibly Chevrolet, possibly someone else, wants the dispute to go away. And yet the SUVs remain on the streets, going on nearly two months.

For now it will have to remain a mystery. Is this a solitary act of protest, or an indication of more assertive Chinese consumers?

Imagethief also lends his insight:

Without knowing the details of the purchase or the credentials of the dealership and the details of the dealership’s relationship with GM, it’s hard to know why this situation developed. GM itself may be completely blameless. But lack of blame isn’t always a good reason for not doing anything. It’s the famous Chevy and GM names that will stick in Chinese consumers’ heads in this case, and therefore it is their reputations that are at risk, especially if the case gives rise to another bout of mainstream press coverage for any reason. Just because it hasn’t gone ballistic yet doesn’t mean it might not do so in future. Whenever foreign companies are involved, there is a risk of attention surging. (And trust me, “foreign brand” will trump “local dealership” in the public consciousness almost every time.)

There is more to damage control than killing unfavorable online articles. If this is a real situation, as it appears to be, and not a competitive stunt, then Chevy China’s management should be looking for a way to be publicly seen helping these motorists to resolve their problem. This is especially true if it can be done without assuming too much legal risk or expense. They should also be trying to figure out what went wrong with the dealer, and communicate how it’s being addressed. It might just be one crummy dealership, but it’s their car brand at stake in a market that is ever more sensitive to slights of Chinese consumers by foreign brands.

[tags]Beijing, China, Chevrolet, protest, consumer complaints[/tags]

Boeing finally unveiled the first fully assembled 787 ‘Dreamliner’ passenger jet, constructed of a revolutionary mix of carbon fiber and plastic, a design that engineers claim is more environmentally friendly than traditional aluminum planes.

The design is supposed to be more comfortable, fuel efficient, easy to maintain, and durable.

But amidst all the talk of the plane’s “green” credentials, skeptics point out some of the limitations of Boeing’s newest design, as reported by Tom Symonds of BBC News:

Image via Shanghai Daily

While even environmentalists welcome the attempts to make planes greener, they don’t think the 787 is going to do much to reduce the impact of aviation on climate change.

They believe that fuel-efficient planes are simply going to allow airlines to carry the same number of passengers, more cheaply. And that allows them to cut ticket prices - which in turn will encourage more of us to fly.

Result: the airlines buy more planes anyway. And some air travel experts believe carbon-fibre composites - in the quantities being used by Boeing - are far from tried and tested.

China has jumped on the opportunity to purchase the planes, which have an average list price of $162 million, Shanghai Daily reported.

Air China and China Eastern Airlines have each ordered 15 of the new planes. China Southern Airlines has ordered 10, Shanghai Airlines nine and Hainan Airlines eight.

Both Shanghai Airlines Chairman Zhou Chi and China Eastern Chairman and President Li Fenghua commented on the potential for the Boeing jets to help expand global coverage.

So even though these planes are meant to be better for the friendly skies, they might end up creating more air traffic, and that can’t make the planet happy.

Hippie engineers in Portland, Ore. have found a way to design “affordable, locally-produced, handcrafted bamboo bicycle frames.”

Here’s a story (and a video) from asap:

“A bicycle built from bamboo: Now you can use grass to mow people down“
By Aaron Clark
July 8, 2007

AP Photo/Aaron Clark

Designers Liakos Ariston and Jacob Prinz started Daedalus Custom Bamboo Bikes two years ago after drawing up designs on a napkin; so far they’ve made a limited run of high-end bikes that sell for around $1,250 each.

The raw materials are sustainable, so potentially make less of an impact on the environment, the designers say. But that’s not the only appeal.

“We’ve gained a lot more respect for the material we work with because we’ve had a few accidents on them and generally riders and bikes have come out unscathed,” said Ariston, 25 . . . .

To make the bikes, Ariston and Prinz carefully hand select eight- to 10-feet lengths of phyllostachys nigra — an ebony colored bamboo native to China — and let them “relax” for as long as a year and half in their workshop.

I wrote the guys at Daedalus an email, asking them to explain how their bikes impact the environment in China, and why Chinese locals haven’t adopted the same technology. I’ll be sure to post their responses when I hear back from them.

Common estimates indicate that China is home to 450 million bicycles and 4.21 million hectares of bamboo–doesn’t it make sense to combine the two into something good for the environment?

The shift to electronic bikes (e-bikes) and the proliferation of cars has caused an overall dwindle in bicycle ridership. Because of the increased pressures facing bi-pedal transportation, China’s Ministry of Construction wants to restore bike lanes to their old glory, according to a post on WorldChanging.

I haven’t heard of any bamboo bike initiatives for Chinese consumers, but here are some links to other bamboo bike projects and designers:

Bamboo Bike Project
“The project aims to examine the feasibility of implementing cargo bikes made of bamboo as a sustainable form of transportation in Africa.”

Brano Meres Engineering & Design
“This is my second home-made frame. This time I used bamboo rods connected with carbon composite joints.”

Calfee Design
“Beginning as a publicity stunt in 1996, Craig’s bamboo errand bike evolves into a well-tested new model for the general public.”
Calfee Design bamboo bicycle