Guangzhou show boosts China auto market?

Shanghai, November 19 (Gasgoo.com) The 6th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition opened to the public yesterday amid the deep slump for China's auto industry. Judging by the debut of many strategic models, carmakers in China are still confident that the Chinese auto industry will continue to drive forward and hope that this year's Guangzhou auto show will help boost the sluggish market.

As one of the three largest annual auto shows in China (with Beijing and Shanghai auto shows as the other two), the Guangzhou auto show at the end of the crisis-plagued 2008 is more highly expected by Chinese automakers as an opportunity to promote their new vehicle models and brand publicity, as their last-ditch sprint to the sales target of the year. In the less than two months to go, many Chinese auto companies have not achieved 70% of this year's sales goals.

Slightly different from the auto shows in Beijing and Shanghai mainly for unveiling new car models, the Guangzhou show has annually focused on both display and sales, especially near the end of the year when many "all-new" cars models that have been unveiled in the other two auto shows are now waiting for selling to the buyers. In this sense, the Guangzhou show is more seen as a sales promotion event.

In addition to releasing new car models during the show, most automakers will focus on showcasing the special features or selling points of their vehicles in a bid to drive up the sales at the year end. Guangzhou Toyota and Guangzhou Honda, both Japanese ventures based in Guangzhou, have both posted high sales this year to date and now are embracing the opportunity at their doorstep to sell more vehicles, while other Chinese carmakers are hoping to pick the last possible fruits of the year by displaying new cars at the show.

Shanghai General Motors Co unveiled its Cadillac CTS-V luxury sedan, Enclave sport-utility vehicle as well as its Cruze mid-class sedan at the show. The Cruze, which will also be locally produced in China in the first half of next year, is among models that were developed from GM's global product platform.

Ford Motor Corp yesterday debuted the world premiere of its Fiesta sedan at the Guangzhou show as it aims to meet rising demand for small cars amid high fuel prices. The Fiesta sedan, following an earlier introduction of the hatchback version, is the first Ford small car coming from the Ford Global Product Development System.

The German auto giant Volkswagen has teamed up with Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen to bring 28 vehicles to the event. The brand-new Scirocco sports car and the Skoda Fabia made their China debuts.

Among the new products launched yesterday, small cars boasting better fuel economy still shine as consumers are more savvy amid a drop in income and rising fuel prices. Skoda yesterday showed its Fabia in China. The car, featuring a 1.4 or 1.6-liter engine, will be produced by Shanghai Volkswagen Co. It will hit the market by the end of this year.

China's private car maker Geely Automobile Co launched its Panda subcompact. The 1.3-liter model consumes 4.9 liters of fuel for every 100 kilometers. Domestic automakers also focused their attention on new model launches. Chery, the country's largest independent carmaker, unveiled four new cars – the Eastar Protocol, QQ Sport, Tiggo 3 DR and A3 hatchback.

In the global economic downturn, automakers worldwide are in hot water. Many auto giants have taken the auto show as an opportunity to boost sales in China. Global auto giants, like GM and Ford, have strong confidence in this world's second largest auto market. And the Guangzhou auto show has offered them this year's final platform for them to achieve higher during the market depression.

It remains to be seen whether the Guangzhou show will boost China's auto market. Though the great efforts of the automakers in China, local ones or joint ventures, are likely to pay off more or less, most of their sales targets for the year 2008 will still leave much to be desired during this severe winter.