Little-known Liuzhou is now a giant in minivans

A Forbes magazine story in 2010 said the Wuling Sunshine minivan is "the most important car on earth" because it is "the choice for China's small business owners and farmers, who use it to haul everything from electronics to sugarcane".

The birthplace of that vehicle is Liuzhou, a city far less famous than Changchun, Shanghai or Guangzhou on China's auto map.