China's influence grows in global auto market

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-26 11:22

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Nissan's Teana sedan has a full-size back seat, conservative looks and a reasonable price -- just the thing for a Chinese entrepreneur with a family.

That Chinese buyer is why the car exists. Nissan says the Teana, though also sold in Japan and other countries, was created with China in mind -- one of a growing number of models designed by global automakers for the world's biggest car market.

"The Teana is a Chinese product," said Nissan Motor Co's CEO, Carlos Ghosn, at this week's Beijing auto show. "Without any doubt, the Chinese consumer now is becoming a big target for a lot of products that we are developing."

China's car buyers have become an important force in the design decisions of automakers from Nissan to General Motors Co to Volkswagen AG. Their influence is starting to be seen in vehicles sold worldwide.

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The reason is obvious: China's auto market surged past the United States last year to become No 1 at a time when sales elsewhere are so weak that major brands make most of their global profit in China.

"From volume cars to luxury cars, we can see that all car makers are trying to design cars to fit Chinese tastes," said John Zeng, an analyst for IHS Global Insight.

Automakers are modifying luxury cars to suit China's new rich and creating scaled-down sedans and minivans for the populous but lower-income family market.

China's growing influence echoes defining periods of expansion in the industry's history -- from Europe to Detroit a century ago and the rise of Japan since the 1970s.

GM was a pioneer in designing for the Chinese market. Its Cadillac unit created its 2008 CTS for China, giving it a bigger back seat for Chinese buyers who sit in back while their chauffeur drives. That model was sold worldwide, so Cadillac customers everywhere got the added legroom.

Other producers are following. Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz debuted an extended E-class sedan for China at the Beijing auto show. Ford Motor Co's Volvo Cars and Volkswagen AG's Audi have created Chinese models with bigger back seats.

Luxury makers are giving cars a longer wheel base and stronger suspension for a smooth ride on China's city streets.

China had almost no private cars 15 years ago. But sales have grown so fast since then that the country already is the biggest market for VW, Europe's biggest automaker. It could replace the United States as GM's top market by vehicles sold as early as this year. GM sold 2.1 million cars and trucks in the United States in 2009 and says total China sales of all its brands, including those with local partners, should pass 2 million this year.

"The lines are going to cross. It's only a matter of when," said Tim Lee, GM's president for international operations outside North America and Europe.

Automakers and industry analysts say Chinese car ownership levels are still so low that sales, from luxury to economy brands, should grow strongly in coming years as millions of families buy their first car.