With envious eyes around the world watching from lockdown,
China’s Business capital Shanghai celebrated the ritzy glitzy opening of the
19th Shanghai Auto Show last week, the first international auto show to open to
the public since the pandemic disrupted life as we know it in early 2020.
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But why is china so important to the global car industry?
Many people may not realize that china is the number one car
market globally, with more than 25 million cars sold last year, according to
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Forecasted auto sales for 2021 are expected to exceed 26
million units, maintaining a 4-percent annual rise, and making China the least
impacted market by the global economic downturn accompanying the COVID-19
pandemic.
The rise of the Chinese auto industry is the result of a
long-term strategic vision by the Chinese government, which has, since the
mid-eighties, managed to entice global automakers to get a piece of China’s
huge and untapped domestic market, under the “50:50 Joint Ventures” policy,
which operates on the basis of equal partnership between foreign investors and
local companies.
This kind of partnership granted the local industry
unlimited access to knowhow and patented technologies, the results of which are
evident today, as Chinese-made cars manufactured under these highly successful
partnerships are not only dominating the domestic Chinese market, but also
competing in international ones.
The Shanghai automotive extravaganza saw dozens of new
models and concepts from from key players in the global auto industry, such as
Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, GM, and Toyota, as well as local Chinese brands,
like SAIC, FAW, GAC, and Geely, among many others.
The show is expecting tens of thousands of visitors, who
will have the chance to see firsthand the many new models making their first
debut on this show, which boasts a total exhibition area of around 360,000
square meters.
Electric vehicles (EV), or New Energy models as they are
called in China, took center stage at the event, with an exponential global
interest in the many EV-manufacturing Chinese startups like
NIO and Xpeng; the
pair are considered to be tesla’s main rivals in their domestic market for now,
and are expected to pose a real threat to the American EV pioneer.
Another unexpected newcomer to the EV market is none other
than the telecom and high-tech giant Huawei, which is revealing its first
production-ready electric model, made in
collaboration with China’s automotive company
SERES.
The models is called the SERES SF5, and it will be available
in Huawei flagship stores across China.
Not so long ago, Chinese auto shows like Shanghai’s made
headlines across the world for various and rather odd reasons, as Chinese
automakers were notorious for making almost identical copies of famous car
models, a habit that caused many feuds with global automakers, some of which
resulted in lawsuits.
Additionally, Chinese shows was the main platform for
showcasing long-wheel-base models, made especially to cater to the unique
demands of Chinese car buyers, who prefer chauffeurs. These special treats are
still there, with a diluted copying habit, giving way to more interesting
concepts that show the future global trends of automotive design as a whole.
People’s perception of cars from the “People’s Republic” are
changing faster than anyone might think, as the Chinese auto industry dragons
launch their offensive on the world stage.
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