American tastes dominated the world's automotive market for a century, but all that's changing now. Today it's the increasingly well-to-do Chinese car-buyer that industry wants to woo and win, thanks to this incredible fact"”China has, over the last three months running, surpassed the U.S. in terms of volume sales of automobiles. Ever wonder why Ford's new Fiesta has an instrument panel that looks like a cell phone? Because that's what's familiar to its target audience of 20- and 30-something Chinese. It's also why Chinese versions of the Fiesta come in sedan size, with four doors, rather than as hatchbacks, which are anathema in the Middle Kingdom.
The future of auto design was on display last week at the Shanghai Auto Show, where, in 30 football fields worth of space, international and domestic carmakers vied for the attention of Chinese consumers. The timing of the biennial event, China's oldest international auto show, was fortuitous. No one expected the Middle Kingdom to nab first place in the global auto market from America for at least another decade, but the financial crisis has had a sharp dampening effect on U.S. sales. The Chinese, meanwhile, spurred on by their government's enormous stimulus package, have kept spending. Beijing's 2009 auto sales target is 10 million units, an increase of 10 percent from 2008, and a figure that would cement its position, with an estimated 1 million more unit sales than the U.S. "No one expected China to emerge as the leading volume market this fast," says William Russo, a Beijing-based business consultant who specializes in the automotive sector. "This will give China a huge say in setting the standards and architecture for the entire industry."
If Beijing gets its way, the future will be small, green and"”of course"”made in China. The shock of the global financial crisis, and the resulting need to stimulate the auto sector has persuaded Beijing to dig deep into government coffers with more than $733 million to promote the rural sales of small cars and trucks (which domestic makers specialize in) and $220 million to fund and upgrade new green automotive technologies that many consider to be the wave of the future for the industry. Ultimately, Chinese planners want to create a new Detroit"”a leaner, meaner, cleaner global automotive hub.
It won't be an easy road. The five top-selling brands in the country are still familiar foreign names"”Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, in that order"”though the top four are all joint ventures between these foreign giants and old Chinese-state run companies, like Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. or SAIC, a behemoth that has joint ventures with both Volkswagen and GM. But muscling their way onto the scene are some brash, local rising stars"”including private carmakers Chery Automobile Co., Geely Automobile Holdings and BYD Auto Co."”that have been ramping up production and sales. While most are still beginners when it comes to things like brand development, marketing and quality control, together they already represent one third of domestic sales"”and Beijing's policymakers think it's time for local players to lift their profile.
The first big push toward that goal will come via stimulus-package money. In late January, domestic carmakers were thrilled to discover they would reap the lion's share of benefits from official stimulus efforts simply because they specialize in small, inexpensive cars popular in second-tier cities and towns. Government initiatives included the halving of retail taxes (from 10 to 5 percent) on vehicles with less than 1.6-liter engine displacements, and $700 million in government subsidies to entice farmers into trading their tractors and rural clunkers in for new small cars and trucks.
Local players immediately began reaping the benefits. China's fifth-biggest manufacturer, Chery, saw sales in January and February shoot up 25 percent; it's aiming for 18 percent growth in 2009. By shifting its policy support to smaller cars Beijing has upped the pressure on China's biggest manufacturers, both foreign and domestic, to scale down in vehicle size. Just by coincidence, Ford started selling its new Fiesta"”with an engine displacement of 1.5 liters"”in China a little more than a month after the new tax cut. Customers bought more than 4,000 in six weeks of presales transactions.
Yet smaller cars are only the first part of the government's master plan. China's stimulus package also includes $220 million for upgrading automotive technologies, especially in alternative-energy vehicles. To help offset the high cost of buying clean-energy vehicles, subsidies of nearly $8,800 are being offered to local government agencies and taxi fleets in 13 cities for each hybrid vehicle purchased. The rebate will also reportedly be offered to private car-buyers to soften sticker shock.
Such incentives helped make Shanghai's auto extravaganza last week the greenest A-list car show in history. Although none of them represent cutting-edge technologies, China's homegrown electric and hybrid vehicles were visible at every turn. Chery, China's top-selling local brand, exhibited four alternative-energy cars. The private Lifan Group, based in Chongqing, unveiled its hybrid 320 EV. And BYD Auto, a Shenzhen-based firm best known for putting batteries in one fourth of the world's cell phones, had on display its much-touted F3DM, a plug-in electric car with a backup gasoline engine, that started selling last December for around $22,000.
Whatever fails to grown in dry lands uses to grow fairly well in more fertile ones.Whatever... and automobiiles, usually are followed, in land, by planes e power. Good automobiles, let's say, at least.
Probable China,also have the idea to buy GM ?, what is the rate of collision for this super hibrid small vehicles how secure they are ?.....
All these car's made in china are fake they have the ability to make look good as most product's but the material is very poor good luck in the road !......
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We have the technology, so why are our cars still so inefficient?
What's called a 'global' recession is in fact shrinking economies mainly in the West, not the East.
Only $25!
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