Where does knowledge come from?

There are times I really hate to mention in conversation 'what I know' or what I think I know. Case in point. During our class discussion the other day, we were talking about our auto manufacturers an not being able to sell American cars in the Chinese market. Here is an example where I thought I knew something based on our discussion.

So I take my new found 'knowledge' and express a newly formed opinion. However, I find this knowledge needs to be researched a bit more. My co-worker, as he describes below, took little time to update me with a little more inforation.

His email follows:

Didn’t spend much time looking, but I couldn’t find a single instance where it is said that the US can’t sell cars in China due to any restrictions. Found lots of articles about the Chinese looking to enter the US market soon, but concerns about the quality are the main issue there. However, did find n MSNBC article (link below) talking about how GM sells more Buicks in China than they do in the US. Also, from USAToday, I found a table showing the top Chinese auto retailers, and GM is #1, Ford is also on the top 10.

Here is the MSNBC link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16268883/from/et/

Here is the table from USAToday:

Top 10 automakers in China, by number of vehicles made in 2006:
1. General Motors - 880,706
2. Volkswagen - 697,796
3. Hyundai - 397,207
4. Honda - 360,051
5. Chang'an - 345,786
6. Toyota - 306,632
7. Chery Auto - 287,700
8. China FAW - 287,590
9. Ford Motor - 255,642
10. Renault-Nissan - 238,639
Source: PwC Automotive Institute 2007 Q1 Data Release

Anyway, that is about all of interest I could find in brief search.