Published April 19th, 2006 by Future Atlas
Chinese global market power
Chinese economic and cultural power in the world is often exaggerated these days, as people anticipate the superpower to come, but there is a curious sign of China’s future power driving American roads.
AutoWeek reports that the redesigned Honda Civic has a more luxurious interior — and blue instrument lights — because Chinese consumers wanted these things.
So American Civic owners are unknowingly living a slightly more Sinofied existence, a phenomenon which will spread with each year of Chinese economic growth. As China becomes the largest market for an ever-longer list of products and services, they will be modified to meet the needs and preferences of that market — Google is a recent example — and serve as vehicles of Chinese cultural power.
(Via Social Technologies)