Chinese Auto Industry is as Diverse as the Global Auto Industry at the Turn of the Century
With the world's carmakers dedicating as much time, energy and capital on emerging markets as they are, its no wonder there's anything left for traditional buyers. China is all the rage, followed by India and Russia.
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| Byd is one of the leading mobile phone battery producers in the world and also owner of an automobile plant. Byd introduced several concept cars at the press portion of Auto China 2004 last week. The ET is a crossover concept with a Mercedes-Benz A-class front end. It looks somewhat like the Toyota Fine-N HEV introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show last year. (Photo: Byd) |
What's so enticing? A virgin, somewhat unsophisticated populace, at least in the ways of the Western world, fully open and willing to eat up slick marketing campaigns with a frenzy only limited to an ability to pay.
But that ability has increased in recent years. China is no longer only a land of bicycles and rickshaws, now that multinationals have descended on its relatively inexpensive yet overwhelmingly expansive workforce. The Chinese are making money, with some making a lot of money.
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| Byd's F2 and F4 crossover models are updates of the brand's current Flyer. They're good examples of China's old school styling efforts, which may find difficulty competing directly with more modern products from the major automakers. (Photo: Byd) |
Case in point: Netherlands boutique automaker Spyker is looking to China to sell its extraordinarily expensive hand-built sports cars, now that a nouveau riche millionaire has stepped up to the plate and purchased one. The world's more mainstream premium automakers are setting up shop in China too, having seen signs of a new class of upwardly mobile business people emerge.
But while opportunities abound for niche market suppliers and the world's luxury marques, the big money will be made selling bread and butter hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and minivans to China's burgeoning "middle class" white collar workers, and cheap micro cars to the working class.