Model performers at Beijing

Scantily clad models the likes of which haven't been seen at a western car show in years – and soaring sales: CLIFFORD COONANis at the Beijing car show

IT’S AN impressively styled and sporty golden two-seater, and the young woman in a black leather mini-skirt pouts and poses as she defies the Chinese car consumer to overcome their traditional dislike of domestically produced cars and take the Gleague GS for a spin.

Or how about the smart new four-door Mini? Wait a minute – that’s no Mini, that’s a Lifan 320 . . . any similarities to the Mini are surely coincidental.

These are just some of the delights on offer at Auto China 2010 in the Chinese capital this week, and it’s not just the girls in leather draped across the bonnets in a fashion not seen in the west since the 1970s that sets this show apart from its counterparts.

Rotated annually between Shanghai and Beijing, Auto China has taken on new significance since China overtook the US last year to become the world’s biggest producer and seller of cars, and a beacon of hope for a struggling industry.

There is little to make you think you are in China – the area is full of strip malls and global brands such as Starbucks and McDonalds – except for the masses of people walking to the car show. They dont intend to have to walk for the rest of their lives: China is hungry for car ownership.

The auto show now covers an area equivalent to nearly 40 football pitches, showcasing 65 concept cars and 95 alternative-energy vehicles.

Last year in China, 13.64 million vehicles were sold as increasingly well-off Chinese consumers continued a shopping spree that has run for years, underpinned by government incentives such as lower taxes.

However, as car makers such as Geely, Great Wall and BYD show, China is still not winning the war to come up with saleable brands and is forced to acquire household names in its bid to expand and develop an export industry.

But it is certainly trying. Chery, China’s biggest domestic brandhas signed Argentine football wizard Lionel Messi as an international ambassador to promote its brands.

Or take the Jianghuai Auto Company. It started life in 1964 in the industrial wasteland of Anhui province making trucks before trundling along making Hiace-style vans for a couple of decades. In 1997 it was transformed into JAC, listing on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2001 and then revolutionising its product offering.

A group of dancers huff and puff their way through a routine to launch JACs Tojoy hatchback, one of 13 new models the company unveiled at Auto China. The cars are anonymous but well-tooled with impressive specs. And JAC is just one of dozens of car makers in China to expand and improve at a terrific pace. It’s only a matter of time.

When I first came to China in the early 1990s, the few cars on the roads were mostly government-owned Passats, beeping their way through throngs of Mao-suited workers on bicycles. Nowadays, bikes fight for space on the roads.

It’s no accident the world’s car makers are rushing to China with their latest wares. Mercedes unveiled the Shooting Break – yes, that’s break, not brake, and I don’t know what it means either – at Auto China. It is basically an estate version of the CLS Coupé – but it’s a spectacular car.

One of the most popular debuts at the show is the new 599 GTO Ferrari. It’s Ferrari’s fastest consumer car, with a top speed of 335km/h, though its hard to think of anywhere in China where it’s going to get anywhere near that. That didn’t stop people queuing to admire its beautiful lines, and to ask about delivery details. Luxury car sales in China have soared in recent years.

At the Porsche stand, the Germans unveiled to an awestruck Chinese audience what has to be the most beautiful hybrid in the world, the 918 Spyder Concept Sports Car.

It goes from zero to 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds and emits 70g of CO2 per kilometre on fuel consumption of three litres per 100km. It’s faster than the Carrera GT. Porsche probably didn’t need the models but took no chances and opted for two women in demure cocktail dresses to show off the Spyder.

Cars designs are increasingly customised to suit the Chinese consumer.

If you’re able to buy a Cadillac in China, for example, there is no way you will drive it yourself: such a loss of face. So the Cadillac 2008 CTS has a bigger back seat. This has gone on to become the norm for that model around the world, showing that what’s good enough for China is good enough for everyone else too.

Mercedes’s E-Class has been a huge hit in China and it debuted an extended version for China. Audi and Ford joined in with added rear legroom in their high-end models for China’s “drivers”. BMW is planning to produce its X1 Sports Activity Vehicle in China, with a new plant in Tiexi in Shenyang province already building BMW 3-Series and BMW 5-Series models for the Chinese market.

Volkswagen launched its new Phaeton, with a 6.0-litre W12 engine and a five-speed Tiptronic four-motion gearbox, here. “In 2009, China became the largest single market for the VW Phaeton in the world,” said Winfried Vahland of Volkswagen China. The world premiere of the new Phaeton was at Auto China 2010.

Rolls Royce has also introduced a long vehicle for the chauffeur classes of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, and expects sales to more than triple in 2010 to about 400 cars. China is its number-two market in the world now.

Geely is another busy Chinese company. It is making London black cabs in a joint venture and unveiled a concept taxi here at the show, with a front rumble seat that folds away to allow back-seat passengers stretch their legs out.

The show is also a platform for China’s recent shopping spree of global brands. Visitors to the Auto China were definitely more interested in Volvos now its owned bythat Chinese car maker Geely. And Beijing Automotive (BAIC) will also feel a burst of interest now that it has access to Saab’s technologyit bought from GM. This is important because Chinese drivers still don’t like domestic cars. They will buy them because they are cheaper but given the option, they would always go for an import.

One of the more bizarre stands features Chrysler’s Jeep Wrangler, guarded by two models who look set to go skiing in bikinis, furs and leather mini-skirts. Chinese brands are making major advances, but its still the foreign brands that are drawing the crowds at Auto China. Maybe it’s the models . . .