Word: flyer
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...just become car plants. At least that's what has happened at Qin Chuan in the northern city of Xi'an. The aging state-owned enterprise, which a decade ago made 130-mm artillery shells, now houses assembly lines that stamp out a boxy four-door hatchback called the Flyer. It built just 17,000 vehicles last year; many of the underpowered and unattractive cars were bought by local taxi companies on the order of provincial officials looking for a captive market. But even that didn't dismay factory managers trying to cash in on China's booming car market...
...technology battling it out at the top, the only hope for domestic carmakers without joint-venture partners is to capture the bottom end of the market, then begin the slow ascent up the price-and-sophistication ladder. That's the path chosen by BYD, the former bombmaker. The Flyer retails for about $4,700, making it affordable to the 50 million Chinese earning at least $7,000 a year, whom the government considers middle class. "Look around my office," says Liu, the BYD general manager. He has one dusty filing cabinet, bare whitewashed walls and a view overlooking the decrepit...
...Flyer was designed by Chinese engineers, but at least two other companies are suspected of trying to cut costs through a time-tested Asian shortcut: copying Western designs. Analysts once considered cars too sophisticated to knock off. They were underestimating Chinese ingenuity. In 2002 a Volkswagen-like subcompact made by a small company in Anhui province now called SAIC-Chery Automobile began appearing: it was made with components provided by suppliers that were believed to have signed exclusive deals with Volkswagen's joint venture. More recently, Chery has run afoul of GM by releasing a car, called the QQ, that...
...majority of homes she stops by this Friday afternoon are empty. Xu drops a flyer in the door and checks off the house from her list. Those who actually make it to the door are pleasant, but don’t say much. Maybe they’re undecided, maybe they’re already Edwards supporters; in the worst-case scenario, they’re Republicans...
...increased lift causes the Flyer to bank into a turn. The rudder keeps the turn under control...