In the near future China will overtake the US as the largest market of luxury cars. And that’s a global car manufacturers behave as if it has already happened.
Opening this week’s Beijing auto show has become a showcase for Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz dominating the luxury brands in China, and also for such ambitious challengers like Cadillac, Lincoln and Infiniti.
Wealthy Chinese consumers want to have the same technology, such as infotainment (infotainment systems) and collision avoidance, which attract crowds in new York, London, Paris and Tokyo. And if these technology-equipped crossovers or SUVs, then a warm welcome in Beijing they provided, Namrita says Chou, an analyst at IHS Automotive in London.
“Now Chinese consumers are much more aware than it was 10 to 15 years ago,” says Chou. “They’re younger, they’re tech-savvy, they love to travel and they are aware of international trends”.
Mercedes-Benz V-class is equipped with a refrigerator.
On the eve of the motor show
On Friday, April 22, a few luxury brands announced its plans at the Beijing auto show:
• The Infiniti QX Sport Inspiration (in the header photo), floating front and wide wheel arches, will demonstrate the brand vision for the next mid-sized crossover.
• Volkswagen-ovsky luxury plug-in hybrid concept SUV has a clean elektricheskim power reserve is 50 km and its fuel consumption in combined cycle driving is 3.0 l/100 km.
• Mercedes V-class – multi purpose vehicle is equipped with a panoramic sliding glass roof, integrated fridge and foldaway tables in the front seatbacks.
• Cadillac XT5 is a mid – size crossover with all-wheel drive and a 2.0-liter engine trombirovanny.
• Lexus will unveil the refreshed version of its mid-size sedan IS.
• Acura will remove the cover from the compact crossover based on Honda HR-V, which the company claims will be the first Acura produced in China.
Cadillac XT5: all-wheel drive and a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine.
As can be seen, the global automakers are going to demonstrate here also underlie their unmanned vehicles technology. This month, Volvo announced a plan to conduct in China of road tests using 100 Autonomous guided vehicles.
Apparently Hyundai is also planning something with Autonomous guided vehicles. At least walking on the Chinese television advertising demonstrates Genesis going offline.
However, despite the fact that luxury brands strive to impress with its technology, the key to the Chinese market is local production. Brands that have their Assembly lines in China, such as Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, can hope for a significant expansion of sales.
Those importing their cars like Lincoln and Lexus will become niche players.
“If you have no local production, you will be forced out of the main part of the Chinese market,” says Chou. “You will have a lot of competitors in the premium segment.”
