What Automakers say about Shanghai Auto Show
- Source: The Global Times
- [13:51 April 19 2009]
- Comments
By Shi Jierui
According to AP news, international automakers are converging on Shanghai Auto Show for the world's only major growing car market.
The biannual Shanghai Auto Show will open on Monday to media and on Wednesday to the public. It's expected to feature an unprecedented number of new vehicle launches, reflecting the growing importance of this market for automakers everywhere.
"The number of new launches, especially from global manufacturers, will set it apart," says Paul Gao, CFO of Chery Quantum Auto Co., a new unit of Chery Automobile Co. that is developing upscale models for the domestic automaker.
"Many automakers now see the Chinese market as at the forefront," he said.
The uptick in sales this year caught many automakers off guard, since they had cut production in expectations that the slowdown in sales seen last year would persist in China, Gao says.
"There are supply shortages and in some cases, automakers couldn't meet demand. Joint ventures rely on imported components, and many of the tier-one global suppliers were already on the verge of bankruptcy," he said.
Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group, says GM intends to double its sales in China, to more than 2 million a year, by 2014. Among its strategies: launching or upgrading more than 30 models over those five years.
Vehicles need to be tailored to the preferences of increasingly particular Chinese customers, says Thomas Schiller, managing director of Arthur D. Little China, who specializes in the auto industry.
"It doesn't work to take some car and just localize it. Chinese customers are now more educated and U.S. designs are shifting to a more Japanese and European model," he said, "There is huge potential for first-time car buyers. They will buy a car because they need a car."
"The biggest challenge for most players is how to enter the tier-three and -four cities," said Schiller. "It's a battlefield in the market and it will decide the next two to three years of growth in China."
(Agencies)