Luxury Car Makers Gear Up For China

While Beijing's auto show features hybrids and electric cars and dozens of other models aimed at China's mass market, luxury car makers from around the world have also wheeled out their latest offerings at the 200,000-square-meter exhibition area.

The gull-winged Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG making its Chinese debut and the Lamborghini LP 670-4, a limited edition solely for the Chinese market, stole some of the limelight from the almost 1,000 car models on display. Mercedes-owner Daimler AG, meanwhile, gave a world premiere to its Maybach sedan that features an optional 19-inch cinema screen and seat piping that comes hand-braided or laced with Swarovski crystals.

China's auto market became the world's biggest last year in terms of the number of vehicles sold, as sales jumped by almost half to nearly 13.6 million vehicles. In the first three months of 2010, auto sales were up another 80% year-on-year, J.D. Power data show. 

 The country's emerging class of super-rich also upped their automobile spending, with several global luxury brands reporting sharp increases in sales in China. BMW AG saw China sales double in the first quarter of 2010, and the company plans to boost its dealership network by 20 to 170 this year. German rival Audi, owned by Volkswagen, is the market leader in China and says it expects its sales there will outpace those in its domestic market within the next three years. The international brands won't have it all their own way, however.

Domestic auto maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. has its own Emgrand GE luxury auto aimed at China's wealthy elite. Among the most expensive cars showing at Beijing's new China International Exhibition Center is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, priced at more than $2 million, which its makers claim is "on a par with modern Formula 1 race cars." Rolls Royce, Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley and Maserati all also paraded their vehicles at the event, which opened Friday and continues to May 2.