Auto extravaganza begins

By Ning Yuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-24 06:52

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Some 700,000 participants are expected at the 10-day event that now holds the attention of the global auto industry. [China Daily]

Beijing: China's unprecedented car war was distilled into a single moment on Friday when the 2010 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition raised its curtain on a record number of models designed to seduce increasingly affluent customers in the world's biggest vehicle market.

A total of 990 vehicles are on display over a record 200,000 sq m for this session of the biennial auto fest, including an unparalleled number 89 foreign and domestic models making their global premieres.

"We have the biggest number of auto brands among all of the world's major motor shows since the global financial crisis hit," said Wang Xia, secretary-general of the show's organizing committee.

The pitched battle underway at the show demonstrates how crucial the still-maturing Chinese vehicle market is to both international and homegrown brands.

Vehicle sales in China skyrocketed by more than 70 percent year-on-year to 4.61 million units in the first quarter of this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Full-year sales are widely predicted to grow 15-20 percent to around 16 million units. China's GDP grew by a two-year high of 11.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, up from 10.7 percent in the previous quarter.

General Motors (GM), the biggest vehicle producer in China, announced earlier this month that it aims to sell more than 3 million cars in the country in 2015, up from 1.83 million units last year.

The Detroit-headquartered giant plans to introduce 25 all-new or revamped models in China by the end of 2011 in its most intensive product launch since it started local production in the 1990s.

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'Anything is possible'

"Anything is possible in China," said GM's China Chief Kevin Wale, "Five years ago we forecast that auto sales in China will exceed those in the US by 2020, but the prediction came true last year, 10 years early."

The company said it expects to move 2 million vehicles this year in China.

GM, together with its local joint ventures, is exhibiting 28 models under its three core brands - Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac - during the Beijing show with one concept car making its global debut, two concept models making their Asian premieres and three production vehicles appearing in China for the first time.

Germany's Volkswagen Group, booking an entire hall, an all-time-high expanse of almost 10,000 sq m, is showing about 100 models under its six brands selling in China - Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche - making it biggest exhibitor.

The floor space reflects its position in China's passenger car sector - No 1 - and the nation's status as Volkswagen Group's top global market.