Where once the bicycle ruled supreme, now the luxury saloon, the SUV and the sleek roadster are kings. Tens of thousands of China's emerging class of drivers converged on Beijing's International Motor Show this week to size up the fastest, priciest and most luxurious cars that European, American and Asian carmakers had to offer. And liked what they saw.
A key event at this year's fair was the launch of the concept version of Ford's massively successful Focus. The concept car was given its global debut at the show by executive vice president for Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, Mark Schulz, who said it was "a teaser version of what will become the most sophisticated Focus to date."
China is the world's third-largest and fastest-growing car market. While the numbers of new owners are slowing down - the market grew 28 per cent in the first four months of 2004, compared to 34 per cent last year - the big car firms clearly see China as the place to be. The show, which is held every two years, highlights intense interest by foreign firms in setting up ventures in China, where car sales jumped 75 per cent last year to about two million. Analysts reckon annual sales could reach 10 million by 2010, second only to the US.
Ford's arch-rivals, the world's biggest carmaker, General Motors, was busy at the show making sure it would not give up its top slot too readily. The Detroit giant plans to invest more than $3 billion in China over the next three years to more than double annual output to 1.3 million units.
GM, which established its first Chinese joint venture in 1997, is now the second-largest foreign carmaker in China after Germany's VW, which came into the market more than a decade earlier.
The statistics about China's car market make for breath-taking reading. Over two million passenger cars were sold in China last year and more than 90 per cent of passenger cars made and sold in China are under foreign carmakers' brands.
But a cloud on the horizon is the government's squeeze on personal credit to avoid economic overheat. This has caused a drop in car loans in recent weeks, leaving concern about the impact on car sales.
Tighter credit doesn't worry the high end of the market, which in China traditionally pays in cash. So, luxury cars were busy trying to build market share at the show.
GM launched its Cadillac brand and the local audience thronged the stand. Bentley's Continental GT drew lots of admiring glances, as did the Rolls-Royce Phantom and VW's Phaeton.
BMW's stand was filled with serious buyers. "BMW is really good," said one visitor. "I really like this car, but my salary is too low. I need to make more money."
Someone who had already made the money was Joe Han, an Armani-shirted Beijing property developer who drives a Mercedes S-Class. Now he plans to buy a 645Ci Coupé for his wife, Irene.
"I'm very interested in buying this," he said. "It looks very good for two people, but the back seat is a bit small. I prefer the cabrio. Very few people in Beijing can afford this kind of car, but China is going to be a big market for this kind of car."
VW's Audi has established a strong presence in China's premium market and is the marque of choice for top government officials. Audi recently launched its new flagship A8 here.
VW sold nearly 700,000 cars in China last year. Its Touran MPV is produced at one of its joint ventures in Shanghai. The German giant plans to invest €6 billion in China over the next five years and has 24 models at the show.
DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz plans to produce the E-class and the C-class with its Beijing partner.
Toyota has 13 models on show, including the Crown which will be made in China next year.
Competition between SUV makers at the show is tough. Chinese consumers like SUVs, seeing them as better suited to often poor roads and even poorer driving. SUV sales have doubled between 2001 and 2003 to about 200,000 a year.