Thousands throng to Chinese car show

Exhibitors from all over the world are in the Chinese capital for Auto China 2014, a showcase for more than 1,100 of the latest domestic and international brands in the world's biggest car market.

Last year 17.9 million vehicles were sold in China. With sales growth set to slow down from 15.7 per cent to 8- 10 per cent, everyone is watching for signs of domestic brands giving the foreign brands a run for their money.

The official launch for the public is today, but the advance opening yesterday was thronged with media and trade visitors – it took 2½ hours to get to the exhibition centre, a journey that normally takes 40 minutes.

German carmakers have been extremely successful in China. Last month Daimler signed a deal worth €1 billion with its Chinese partner Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation to expand production at their joint venture based in Beijing.

And, on the eve of the show, Volkswagen held a special event with its joint ventures Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen to celebrate the delivery of 20 million cars to Chinese customers.

"With our passion for engineering we paved the way for our success over 30 years ago, when we were one of the first foreign automotive companies to venture into China," said Jochem Heizmann, head of VW China.

Customers
In the first quarter of this year the group delivered over 880,000 vehicles to customers, a growth of 14.5 per cent over the same period of last year.

By the end of this year Volkswagen Group expects for the first time to deliver more than 3.5 million cars to its Chinese customers.

Its luxury division Audi plans to sell about half a million cars this year in China.

Rival BMW unveiled a luxury concept sedan yesterday to gauge customer appetite for a car that would cost more than the German manufacturer's current flagship 7-series limousine.

The 5m long vehicle, officially called the "Vision Future Luxury" but also referred to as the 9-series, is aimed at a growing class of ultra-wealthy clients which are coveted by rival brands such as Bentley.

GM plans to unveil a new Chevrolet Cruze compact and display an updated Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Trax SUV.

Ford is debuting its all-new Mustang and it also launched its luxury Lincoln Brand in China, as well as the Ford Everest Concept, a medium, seven-seat off-road SUV.

In the first quarter of 2014, Ford sales rose 45 per cent to 271,321 vehicles.

Global manufacturers
The importance of the China market to global manufacturers cannot be overstated.

Nissan is looking to China to help drive its global turnaround and will debut a concept sedan.

Meanwhile, South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai said in March it was planning a fourth plant in the country.