China’s first McDonalds drive-thru in a petrol station opened yesterday… in ShaHe District in Beijing (沙河区, 北京). This is the beginning for Jeff Schwartz, China McDonalds chief executive’s plan to open another 100 outlets this year – about half of them drive thru’s, and with a recent agreement with Sinopec signals the start of more drive-thru outlets to be opened in petrol stations throughout China. And that’s a potential 30,000 petrol stations – with Sinopec adding 500 every year on average.
This is a very good move for both McDonalds and Sinopec : McDonalds is continuously expanding and car ownership is growing exponentially. I am not sure how petrol fumes would taste when mixed with a McDonalds hamburger, but regardless it looks like both are here to stay and you never know… when cooking oil propulsion technology is perfected perhaps McDonalds will become our new local fill-up point!