Translated material
Auto show under the sky
It's no secret that in the near future China will become the largest player in the global car market, because in terms of potential purchasing power the Chinese have no rivals - last year alone they bought about 8 million cars, and by 2015, according to experts, Chinese the market will surpass the North American one, which is still considered the undisputed leader in sales. Therefore, in a few years, due to the stagnation of the economies of the “first world” countries, most car premieres will take place in China. The current international auto show is also not offended by the attention of auto giants - General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Audi, Daimler, Volkswagen and other famous manufacturers have planned debuts of their new models here. At 180,000 sq. m of area, 890 cars are on display. Cars can be purchased without waiting for the showroom to close. The only Bugatti Veyron brought to China and all three super-expensive Bentleys were sold right from the stand.
And this is just the beginning. Representatives of the companies represented are confident that they will leave Beijing lightly. Only concepts will return home.
Audi brought the loudest world premiere to China, this is a completely new Q5 crossover, designed for five people for now; in the future, a seven-seater version of the SUV is being designed. The new product was expected in both Detroit and Geneva, but the German company chose Beijing to present the future hit. The choice of power units is large in German: four- and six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines controlled by a seven-speed gearbox.
Mercedes-Benz also saved the premiere of the new GLK SUV for Beijing. The model will be available with 2.2-liter 170-horsepower and 3.0-liter 240-horsepower diesel engines, as well as 3-liter gasoline engines with 231 and 268 horsepower.
Volkswagen presents the new Volkswagen Lavida - a mid-size sedan built on the platform of the VW Jetta and Audi A4 models with a rich interior equipment. And also two more models - the Neeza crossover and the Bora sedan. All three models are created in China for the local market. China has already taken first place in the world in sales of Volkswagen cars, and the management of the concern intends to increase sales volume in two years to one and a half million cars.
BMW presented the super-prestigious and super-powerful crossover BMW X6. The concern is expanding production in China and intends to produce up to 100 thousand cars per year in 2012. Nissan demonstrated the Teana new model, which has high hopes in terms of competition with the Camry and Mazda 6.
Undoubtedly, the public will be interested in the Citroen C2 Kappa, Honda-Li Nian, HongQi SUV and Porsche Cayenne Turbo S with increased power presented at the showroom.
Toyota brought 51 models to Beijing at once. Not all are prime ministers, but the Japanese are very much counting on the peaceful “auto-occupation” of their western neighbor.
Concept cars traditionally attract special attention from the public. Thus, Mazda presented the futuristic Taiki model, and Buick presented the luxury Invicta.
However, Chinese automakers are not going to hand over their very attractive market to foreigners. And although 25 world-famous brands already operate factories in China, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Buick, Cadillac, Hyundai and Peugeot, the Chinese are trying to develop their own automotive industry. And in this they were successful. Currently, there are 23 domestic automakers operating in China, among which Chery, Geely, Brilliance, BYD, Great Wall and FAW have already gained worldwide fame.
One of the national Chinese automakers, Geely, presented 23 models at the international auto show. True, according to experts, the appearance of these cars is not new; Chinese car designers are often prone to plagiarism. However, the Chinese are seriously focused on aggressive expansion and are simultaneously developing hundreds of models to conquer the global car market, both budget cars and luxury cars.
Observing the rapid development of the Chinese automobile industry, many bright minds are worried about the sad thought - whether it will work out like with electronics, 95% of the production of which is in China. After all, if ten years ago there was no modern automobile industry in China, now millions of cars are produced in the Middle Kingdom, and it is possible that in 15-20 years, cars of all well-known brands will only bear the Made in China brand.