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A man looks at a Rolls-Royce luxury sedan at
the Shanghai auto show in this undated photo. (Shanghai
Star) |
How long does it take a 10 million yuan Rolls-Royce sedan to
find an owner in Shanghai? Four hours.
A Shanghainese bought the limousine just that length of time after the
opening of the 2005 Auto Shanghai exhibition, the largest in Asia.
A few hours later, another visitor to the auto show bought a Cadillac
sedan at the reception desk.
Each of the halls was crowded with thousands of
people who were elbowing each other for a glimpse of the fastest and most
expensive machines. The officials of Porsche
, for instance, were stunned by the
crowd rushing to ask questions about their new Porch 911 Carrera.
Most of the high-end luxury cars on show found buyers here, according
to Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post.
Although most of those attending earned the equivalent of a few hundred
US dollars a month, their dreams of owning big, fast and luxurious driving
machines would not be repressed.
"China is gearing up to be a giant market for economy and middle-class
cars, but also for high-end car consumers," said Wang Hu, an economist
from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
High-end vehicle makers, suffering a slowdown in sales in the European
and North American markets, have turned to China for customers.
"I am confident about China's auto market," said Steven White, senior
vice-president of Nissan Motors Co Ltd. "You cannot imagine the size of
the market and its potential."
Nissan brought its luxury Fuga, a powerful new premium sedan and its
Quest MPV, a sport concept car first shown at the New York Auto Show. The
two models will be on sale in China in June and autumn respectively.
Nissan's Fuga was an interesting surprise, but the real stars of the
auto show were Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and other luxury vehicles.
Ferrari SpA, the Italy-based sports car maker, debuted its latest
model, the F430, priced at 2.6 million yuan (US$314,000).
"China has huge potential in the top-class automotive segment. We
believe it will be the No. 5 or No. 6 market for Ferrari in the next two
or three years," said Antonio Ghini, Ferrari brand manager.
The Italian sports car company, which is familiar to Chinese customers
for its Ferrari Formula One team, sold 42 vehicles on the Chinese mainland
last year, almost half of its sales since entering the market in 1993. To
compete with other arrivals such as Lamborghini and Porsche, Ferrari has
sped up its China expansion by setting up seven specialty showrooms in
major cities.
Porsche, showing off six powerful models, including the 2006 911 GT3
Cup and the Porsche 911 Carrera coupe, used Auto Shanghai as its first
opportunity to show off its cars at an exhibition in China.
"We have many 'first times' here," said Mark Bishop, previously
managing director of Porsche Middle East in Dubai and Jebsen Motor
International Trade in Shanghai. "It is the first time we have held an
auto show in China. It is the first time we have shown off our 911
Carrerra to the public and the first time we have revealed our 911 Carrera
Cup in Asia. Auto Shanghai is an important stage on which to promote our
brand in China."
The German-based car maker aims to sell more than 1,000 cars in China
this year, compared with about 390 in 2004.
Dutch sports car maker Spyker also made its first debut at this China
auto show, unveiling its C12 LaTurbie and Le Mans 2005.
(Shanghai Star) |