Once a dusty city of cyclists, pedestrians and the occasional dark sedan ferrying party chiefs, China's capital has been transformed in the past 20 years. It's now a modern Asian city boasting new roads, a daunting proliferation of cars and limousines -- and miles-long traffic jams.
Beijing's growth has been so rapid that local authorities now ration driving privileges. On any given weekday, drivers with plates ending with certain numbers are not allowed to take out their Audi, Buick or Geely car.
But the heavy traffic and congestion here and in China's other huge coastal cities isn't likely to put the brakes on the surge in Chinese auto sales.
A new wave of growth has begun in China's secondary cities and poorer inland regions, which are now feeling the benefits of China's economic boom.
Auto executives split the Chinese auto market, the world's biggest, into four sub-markets or tiers: the Tier 1 coastal mega-cities, the fast-growing Tier 2 regions, a third tier in rural central China, and a fourth tier of poor, mostly western, border regions.
During the first boom that began in 2002, after China joined the World Trade Organization, global automakers focused on fulfilling pent-up demand in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other newly-affluent cities along the Pacific.
China's domestic automakers were left to carve out a business in the poorer countryside. Their vehicles weren't modern, but, starting at less than $10,000, they were more affordable.
Now, as global automakers pursue opportunities in burgeoning inland markets, the competition will rise to a new level.
