China is the new stage for the car world. While a claim such as this would have seemed absurd at the beginning of the 1990s, or at least too optimistic just ten years ago or so, it has already become an even brighter reality than predicted by the most positive forecasts (and has done so approximately a decade earlier than expected by the world’s leading experts and analysts). Official confirmation of this came in the form of the Beijing Motor Show, which opened its doors on April 23rd this year. “We have more brands at this show than any other motor show in the world”, said organising committee chairman Wang Xia.

As always with this nation, the numbers are mind-boggling: 990 models exhibited in over 200,00 square metres of floor space and an expected 1 million visitors. All of this is set against the backdrop of a boom the likes of which has never been witnessed before – sales grew by 47.8% in 2009 (for a total of over 13 million vehicles registered, making China the world’s largest market), while the figures for December were up an incredible 83.5% over the corresponding month in 2008.

This has been the highest growth rate seen in the past six years, and significantly, most of this growth has been concentrated around small to mid sized models, testifying to the increasing buying power of the middle class, rather than just the ample resources of the nation’s more affluent social groups. And this exuberance is still showing no signs of flagging, with over 4.5 million cars sold in the first four months of 2010. As a further incentive for growth, in January 2010, the tax on cars with sub-1.6 litre engines was cut from 10 to 5%.

And while America struggles and Europe languishes in the doldrums, China is today’s automotive Klondike. Never in the history of the car has a single country had so many constructors (over a hundred, to be precise) with, most importantly, so many new projects already in progress or in the pipeline. Nobody in the automotive world can afford to ignore China any more – the aggressive red dragon that has engendered so much justifiable fear and anxiety which, however, is the only reality today offering real opportunities for the taking.

(The article continues in Auto & Design n. 183, page 5)