#Economics

The current success of the automotive industry is just barely sustainable, according to J.D Power statistics presented at this year’s Automotive Marketing Roundtable.

Automakers benefited greatly from China’s rapid growth over the past decade. Chinese appetite for automobiles has been a critical income for manufacturers around the world. Even  General Motors sold more vehicles in China than in the United States.

China has recently become one of the biggest markets in the world. They are buying more new cars than any other nation and just about every brand that wishes to become successful opens up a dealer network in this developing market.

The EPA will announce Friday that it has approved the use of E15 gasoline for vehicles made after the year 2000. The EPA previously approved the added ethanol content for vehicles made after 2007 – the new regulations would see the amount of vehicles able to use E15 grow exponentially, and directly benefit American corn farmers, whose crop is used in the production of ethanol.

Canadians get a raw deal when it comes to cars. Even though their dollar is worth a little bit more than the greenback (and is projected to rise in the near future) cars still cost about 30 percent more on average. Due to the discrepancy, it’s common for Canadians looking for luxury vehicles to buy their cars in the United States, and import them back to Canada, where savings can be in the thousands, despite importation fees and taxes.