heard it through the grapevine

According to my Chinese source (aka a real Chinese person), if one was interested in purchasing a new car, whether it is domestic or imported, it would be impossible due to high demand and production constraints. Instead, one can make a deposit on the car and wait for three to six months for your desired car to be available. She also says that the demand for cars was a result of some sort of government regulation that will prohibit cars currently on the road from driving everyday. Current regulation says that on one day out of the week, depending on the last digit of your car's license plate, you cannot drive or else you will be fined. New legislation will increase the number of days to two days a week so, because the car lifestyle has made it into China, car owners are scrambling to buy a second car to insure that they can drive everyday.

I find this amazing- China with their unprecedented manufacturing ability and status being unable to satisfy domestic demands for cars. At the same time, cars in China are significantly more expensive than the rest of the world, even if they are local brands. And, according to "my source", these local brands are much poorer in quality despite being comparatively priced with their international counterparts.

But I'm sure your biggest concern is not China's car policies but this- what kind of car is "my source" in the market to buy?

She and her husband are planning (or have already bought?) a new Mini Cooper, which is appropriate since they both lived in England for a signficant amount of time.

And how much is she going to pay for this car (or have already paid?)?

Before tax, 290,000 RMB (about $45,000). And of course, since it is China and places extremely high taxes imported goods (according to some quick research, the tax on imported cars could range from 13-33% of the base price) , the price will have dramatically increased by the end of the transaction. This makes you wonder how people are able to buy a car, a house and pay for all that entails when average yearly salary is around 36,000  RMB/$4,500 (according to some quick search online).

Of course she and her husband didn't have to pay a dime, the car is a wedding gift from her husband's family. They're generous.