China's Home Grown Auto Industry Planning to Becoming a World Class Contender

The luxury Rolls-Royce Phantom priced at 6.6 million yuan (825,000 U.S. dollars) is drawing envious glances at the ongoing Beijing Auto Show, but what makes this year's expo really different is the unprecedented number of homegrown Chinese brands.

The explosion of homegrown brands in the Chinese auto industry in the five years since the country entered the World Trade Organization has made a mockery of worries expressed in 2001 that international competition would harm the fledgling local auto industry when the country cut customs duties and opened up its domestic market.

According to the organizers, homegrown brands account for one third of the 572 vehicles on display, the biggest share in the history of the biennial event.

First Automobile Works (FAW), the country's largest automaker, wheeled in 29 vehicles and 10 of them are homegrown brands. The luxury Red Flag HQ3 -- in its stretched and bulletproof versions -- was the highlight.

The new Red Flag, no longer based on the old Audi 100 designs, was developed to rejuvenate the country's image.




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EL34 - 11/27/2006 12:19:30 PM

-2 Boost

Good, maybe if China does become a world class contender they won't want to have anymore wars.

cynic - 11/27/2006 1:53:20 PM

+5 Boost

Interesting, are you talking about trade wars?

EL34 - 11/27/2006 7:02:03 PM

-1 Boost

No, I'm talking about China was a Communist nation for a long time.

Remember it was America that liberated China from Japan during WWII.

But, it seems China wants to throw Communism in the garbage can because it has never worked and now that they're getting a taste of Capitalism, they like it, and it doesn't make sense to go to war when you have so much to lose.

BMW530i - 11/27/2006 7:54:40 PM

+2 Boost

EL,

Don't forget the brave men from the Commonwealth (UK, New Zealand, Australia, India etc.) who also helped liberate China from the Japanese.

monkeyrun - 11/27/2006 2:24:34 PM

+3 Boost

what war(s) are you talking about?

Iraq war or Vietnam war or World war II ?

EL34 - 11/27/2006 7:04:15 PM

0 Boost

You know what?...go on wikipedia and look up all the wars China has been involved with and you'll know what I mean.

I'll bet you can't name me one decent automobile that was designed and built in a Communist nation and never been any good movies or music artist.

monkeyrun - 11/27/2006 10:00:50 PM

+1 Boost

"look up all the wars China has been involved with"

Good god. Involved in? So you got a problem with China defending itself during the Opium Wars or World War part one or part two?

Yes there were civil wars like 60 years ago, but I think you couldn't care less about that though.