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China Automotive Systems Inc. (CAAS) isn’t often on the radar. The China-based auto-parts manufacturer recently surfaced on the Reuters Select Lesser Known Stocks screen. The stock is up nearly 6 percent in the final hour of trading. There is no company-specific news, but perhaps some investors were looking for relief from the sometimes dreary debate over what, if any, future U.S. automakers have. The topic was rekindled today by Ford Motor Co. (F) and its update on more operating losses and big write-offs.China Automotive is hardly a bargain. We figure it would take a 22 percent five-year EPS growth rate for an investment in the stock to break even, and at that, we assume a price/earnings ratio of 30 five years hence. Yet the screen has been the number one performer among the Reuters Select group this year (up 19.9 percent, versus 13.2 percent and 9.4 percent for the Russell 2000 and S&P 500 respectively) and the second best among all screens since we started tracking performance on Jan. 28, 2000 (up 436 percent, versus 52.73 percent and 0.40 percent for the Russell 2000 and S&P 500 respectively).