China hot spot for auto majors

16 May, 2008

BY OUR AUTOMOBILE CORRESPONDENT

Nine days of automotive enthusiasm, six lakh-plus enthusiasts, 900 vehicles! The 10th China Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, or Auto China 2008 which ended recently will go down in history as one of the best auto shows in recent times.

Chinese, as well as the global media, have placed on record their applause at the newly built exhibition center spread across a total area of 180,000 square meters of indoor and outdoor space. Auto China 2008 was undoubtedly Asia's largest automotive exhibition, which featured as many as 2,100 exhibitors from 18 countries and regions. Close to 900 automobile models were on show.

The event also saw seven global launches and 24 Asian debuts. Nearly 100 new models appeared at the show. Apart from all the statistics, the large number of visitors made it a point fro the media to note the level of enthusiasm displayed by the Chinese consumers.

With demand slowing in major US, Japanese and European markets, global brands are looking to China, the world's second-largest auto market, to fuel growth. It has been reported that car majors such as General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen, showcased their new designs at the show, hoping the booming market in China can drive up sales this year.

As pointed out by a Ford top official, the business is growing and the company had put on show an exciting product line up. The company is expected to launch brand new products in the Chinese market later this year. Meanwhile, luxury car manufacturers such a BMW and Daimler's Mercedes are also eyeing China's growing wealth to boost global demand for top-end vehicles. It has also been pointed out that BMW's China venture, Brilliance Auto, plans to nearly triple capacity in the next four years, aiming to produce around 100,000 vehicles a year by 2012.

It is seen that China would prove to be a major market in the coming years. Many a manufacturer would have the Chinese customer in mind this year and in future as they line up new models, one after the other.
 

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