"Five or 10 years later, it's hard to say who will be the biggest player in China's premium car market among the three German carmakers. However, Audi's leadership will remain unchallenged in the short term due to its early local production and big customer base," Zhang said.

Audi is the biggest supplier of cars for high-ranking government officials in China, which Zhang said had significantly raised the standing of the brand. Audi said it expects to boost its annual sales in China to 100,000 cars in 2008 or 2009, with the figure set to rise to 200,000 units in 2015. It expects its total sales for 2006 to be 80,000 units.

Benjamin Asher, the Bangkok-based analyst of Automotive Resources Asia Ltd, said earlier that Mercedes would also find many government buyers in Beijing.

"Mercedes is also known as the car to ride in. China's established wealthy are still more inclined to ride than drive," Asher said.

In contrast, BMW's brand image in China has been downgraded a little by the fact that many of its customers are nouveau riche.

Mercedes Benz now has 71 authorized dealers in China, compared with Audi's more than 120 and BMW's 60.

(China Daily 11/21/2006 page10)

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