Global car makers in drive for China market
Sunday, April 22, 2007
GLOBAL automakers roared into China this week unveiling their hottest new models and revving sales forecasts for what many believe will be the world's largest car market in the years ahead.
Enthusiasm for the Shanghai Auto Show, which opens to the public today, signals the importance of China's market after it overtook Japan last year to become the world's second largest vehicle market behind the United States.
Whether selling inexpensive subcompacts or million-dollar luxury models, auto firms have driven into China's financial hub en masse, eager to woo and consummate the nation's budding romance with the automobile.
"Shanghai is clearly one of the biggest shows in the world," Kevin Wale, president and managing director of General Motors China group said in Shanghai Friday.
GM, the globe's largest manufacturer, will display 41 models and also premier two concept cars, the Buick Riviera coupe and the fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Volt.
Volkswagen, the market share leader in China, will unveil here the ultra economical Polo BlueMotion, in what company vice president Winfried Vahland described as a bid to reduce by 20 per cent fuel consumption and emissions from its cars in China by 2010.
Toyota vice president Yoshimi Inaba said that he expects sales this year in the vibrant Chinese market to top the 400,000 mark, up from the 308,000 units sold last year.
About 1,300 companies have set up shop at the biennial exhibition, but the show is not just about the global giants but also the likes of Ferrari, Spyker and Bentley, hoping to tap China's growing rich set.
Refusing to be caught in the slow lane are China's hungry and increasingly prominent auto makers.
The largest firms such as SAIC, FAW, Geely and Chery have aggressive development plans and may soon challenge the dominance of Western and Japanese auto making.
Although many have foreign partners, they have made it clear that they are no longer going to take a back seat in their own market while also targeting overseas expansion in developed markets.
The Shanghai-based firm, which partners Volkswagen and GM, bought part of Britain's scrapped MG Rover Group last year, and aims to target the sporty sedan at what it calls China's middle-high class segment.
Although Chinese brands have long been regarded as low-end, substandard products with poor reliability, that image is changing to the detriment of foreign car makers.
Chinese-brand sedans had a 25.7 per cent market share at home in 2006, up more than two percentage points from a year earlier, according to the semi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Domestic auto makers sold 982,800 sedans last year in a market that totalled 3.8 million cars and 7.2 million vehicles including trucks and buses. Sales of Chinese-made vehicles in the first quarter of this year jumped 22.2 per cent from last year to 2.12 million, with passenger car sales jumping 28.5 per cent to 1.25 million.
AFP
Enthusiasm for the Shanghai Auto Show, which opens to the public today, signals the importance of China's market after it overtook Japan last year to become the world's second largest vehicle market behind the United States.
Whether selling inexpensive subcompacts or million-dollar luxury models, auto firms have driven into China's financial hub en masse, eager to woo and consummate the nation's budding romance with the automobile.
"Shanghai is clearly one of the biggest shows in the world," Kevin Wale, president and managing director of General Motors China group said in Shanghai Friday.
GM, the globe's largest manufacturer, will display 41 models and also premier two concept cars, the Buick Riviera coupe and the fuel-cell-powered Chevrolet Volt.
Volkswagen, the market share leader in China, will unveil here the ultra economical Polo BlueMotion, in what company vice president Winfried Vahland described as a bid to reduce by 20 per cent fuel consumption and emissions from its cars in China by 2010.
Toyota vice president Yoshimi Inaba said that he expects sales this year in the vibrant Chinese market to top the 400,000 mark, up from the 308,000 units sold last year.
About 1,300 companies have set up shop at the biennial exhibition, but the show is not just about the global giants but also the likes of Ferrari, Spyker and Bentley, hoping to tap China's growing rich set.
Refusing to be caught in the slow lane are China's hungry and increasingly prominent auto makers.
The largest firms such as SAIC, FAW, Geely and Chery have aggressive development plans and may soon challenge the dominance of Western and Japanese auto making.
Although many have foreign partners, they have made it clear that they are no longer going to take a back seat in their own market while also targeting overseas expansion in developed markets.
The Shanghai-based firm, which partners Volkswagen and GM, bought part of Britain's scrapped MG Rover Group last year, and aims to target the sporty sedan at what it calls China's middle-high class segment.
Although Chinese brands have long been regarded as low-end, substandard products with poor reliability, that image is changing to the detriment of foreign car makers.
Chinese-brand sedans had a 25.7 per cent market share at home in 2006, up more than two percentage points from a year earlier, according to the semi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Domestic auto makers sold 982,800 sedans last year in a market that totalled 3.8 million cars and 7.2 million vehicles including trucks and buses. Sales of Chinese-made vehicles in the first quarter of this year jumped 22.2 per cent from last year to 2.12 million, with passenger car sales jumping 28.5 per cent to 1.25 million.
AFP
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