Various sources (our own James Tate's piece from the floor, for one [see his last paragraph], and this post from Jalopnik, for another) have reported that the Chinese carmaker BYD said at its press conference in Detroit that it will have vehicles for sale in the U.S. within the year. However, no one seems sure if this was a mistranslation, an offhanded boast or a statement to be taken seriously.

Of course, BYD has done a good job of surprising those who didn't take it seriously. The company, owned by China's richest man, began making cars in 2001, and thanks to tremendous gains (such the 160 percent growth last year) it is now the fourth-largest carmaker in China, one of the world's fastest-growing automotive markets.

Speaking of Jalopnik and BYD, check out this hilarious post wherein Jalopnik writer Matt Hardigree is chaperoned around the inside of the Detroit convention center in the company's ferrous-battery-powered dual hybrid car -- in a move both highly unorthodox for car-show norms and of dubious legality for a heavily regulated show import -- by none other than the chairman of BYD. It's good for a laugh and, perhaps, a good look into the unorthodox nature of the people running a fast-growing automaker that aims to be the world's largest by 2025.