We had an interesting visit to Shanghai GM, a 50-50 joint venture between General Motors Co. and SAIC China, founded in 1999.  China is the 2nd largest market for GM, and we saw the assemblyline at the plant.  With over 24 million people in Shanghai, traffic is a major concern, and buying the car is only half the work, since the local government levies a tax up to 90,000 yuan ($14,530) for the license plate to be issued (for a Businessweek article on the topic, click here).