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Carmakers vie for China sales amid global slump

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-17 14:55

Carmakers are cutting any costs they can these days, but China is one place where they won't be skimping as they battle for customers in one of the world's few remaining growth markets.

Shanghai will host what has become an increasingly high-profile auto show in China next week, when virtually every brand will try to impress with glitzy new cars and concepts while offering a glimpse into the next generation of green vehicles to showcase their technological advances.

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With floor space roughly the size of 30 football fields, Auto Shanghai 2009 will house 13 world premieres -- mostly from local brands -- up from five at the show two years ago, organisers said. Shanghai and Beijing take turns hosting the main Chinese auto show every year.

One of the highlights will be the unveiling of the Panamera grand tourer, Porsche's fourth model line and its most important product launch in years.

German rival BMW will also take the wraps off two brand new models, including the 760Li sedan, the first car to feature its newly developed eight-speed automatic transmission.

"China is the largest market in Asia," said Wang Xia, a top official at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, one of the event organisers. "The Shanghai auto show has every reason to be the most influential auto show in the region."

That has rung true especially after the exit of virtually every major non-Japanese automaker from Asia's premier Tokyo Motor Show, scheduled for late October.

Among the executives attending Shanghai will be General Motors Corp's newly appointed chief executive, Fritz Henderson, who is racing against a government-imposed June 1 deadline to hammer out a restructuring plan or face bankruptcy.

China Tops Now

Only a few years after surpassing Japan as the world's second-biggest car market, China has overtaken the United States in sales so far this year as a deepening recession and credit crisis keep Americans from showrooms.

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