I'm not an Acura fan
or Honda fan, although the RSX is very nice looking - and going out of production. Acura is trying to move upscale, which I think is a mistake, especially because they do not have any V-8s. The S2000 is OK, most Hondas are boring, and the Element and Ridgeline are very ugly.
Many of the Chinese auto companies have ties to regional governments, so if the government has the money, they have a lot of staying power (apparently the provincial governments are quite powerful in China). One company just spent about $1 billion improving their plant with imported equipment. And they realize that just functional doesn't cut it in Europe or the US (one big problem is workers' "iron rice bowl" mentality - in the past in China, nobody ever got fired).
The biggest Chinese car companies have volumes of about 200,000 cars/year, but some have bigger volumes in joint ventures with non-Chinese auto makers. My guess is that the companies with joint venture experience will do better outside of China.
I suspect the US will go into recession or little growth soon (based on housing blowing up), and it'll probably affect China, too.
Anyway, cars are a very personal thing. For example, I don't like to work on cars or spend a lot of money on maintenance. If I did do my own work, I'd be much more likely to consider BMW or Audi.
BTW, the 240SX in Japanese form is called the Silvia, and was used quite a bit as a stock car racer with souped up engines. I've seen a 240SX on the road with a "Silvia" badge, but I'm not sure it's real. After all, I've seen a Mercedes with a "AMG CLK 500" badge, which isn't real (the AMG model is CLK55).
--Tony
