The Figures column brings you the numbers we didn't know a week ago. For this first instalment, here are the stats that made us take notice from the Shanghai motor show.

226mph (363km/h) was the editor's top speed out of Shanghai – though with all that traffic around it wasn't in a car, but on the Shanghai-Hangzhou bullet train. And even that isn't China's fastest train. The Maglev which runs between downtown Shanghai and Pudong International Airport briefly reaches 290mph (468km/h), making it the fastest public land transport in the world.

31 Porsche dealers are now operational in China.

9000 journalists from 2000 publications were expected to cover Auto Shanghai 2011.

15,000 Fisker Karma (above) and Nina models are expected to be built each year once both models are in full production.

4500 is Aston Martin's current annual production total.

80% of all passenger cars worldwide have front transverse engines, according to ZF.

23% less water is used  in BMW production than five years ago.

0.6 Yuan/kWh is the average electricity price in China, according to indigenous manufacturer BYD. That's about 6p/kWh in UK money – roughly half the price consumers pay in the UK. Petrol costs about half as much as in the UK, too.

132 individual spokes make up the ICONA Fuselage's plexiglass wheels.

5751 miles separate Cartechnical's HQ in Shropshire, UK and the Shanghai New International Expo Center where Auto Shanghai 2011 is being held.