Saying 'Beamer' in Chinese
Sitting at a small table with a cup of water, Sun Wanyi is about to join China's increasingly inclusive club of BMW owners. Ms. Sun was drawn to the Beijing showroom after seeing a newspaper ad for a 325i, the first BMW model made in China. The listed price of $45,894, said the 42-year-old restaurateur, "was too attractive to pass up."
Upon arriving, though, she gets some bad news. There's a three-month wait for the German luxury car and the price is about $12,000 more than she expected. Ms. Sun, with a bright red lipstick smile, is undaunted. Even at the higher price, the Chinese-made BMW is still significantly cheaper than same imported model -- and a big step up from her Volkswagen Polo.
"Price is important," she said. "But I want to buy a better car."
Meet China's new luxury car owners. Compared with consumers in other countries, Chinese consumers are buying a disproportionately large number of vehicles priced at $30,000 or more -- where sales margins are fattest. Though most Chinese are poor by Western standards, foreign car makers have discovered a niche among the country's newly rich. In fact, about one-third of new cars sold in China are priced in the luxury range.
In swanky Shanghai, the Bentley dealership has sold 15 cars this year, with an annual sales target of 20, double the number sold last year. Petite talk show host Yang Lan is sometimes chauffeured to her studio in a Hummer, General Motors Corp.'s expensive military-style vehicle that towers over traffic. Shanghai's first Rolls-Royce showroom sold six cars in its first week of operation last month.
Michael Ganal, head of world-wide sales and marketing operations for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, parent of BMW and Rolls-Royce, said the German car maker increasingly is considering the tastes of Asian consumers as it develops models. In 1987, 46% of what BMW considers high-end sedans were sold in Europe. Now, markets outside of Europe account for 78% of that segment. The most important market for the most expensive BMW, the 12-cylinder 760 sedan, is China, Mr. Ganal said.
Though income has been growing quickly in China in recent years, the wealth is uneven. In a country where urban per capita income is still below $1,000 a year, China's richest 10% account for 45% of all urban household wealth, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In central Beijing, BMW, Bentley and Porsche showrooms crowd together on nearby corners, underscoring the close combat for high-end customers.
In their eagerness to discover how big a market exists for luxury cars, foreign companies are reshaping China's auto industry by migrating manufacturing to the country. Volkswagen AG's Audi makes cars in China under a joint venture with First Automotive Works Group, and it saw its sales climb 66% in this year's first nine months from a year ago. Last month, BMW, in partnership with Brilliance China Auto Holdings Co., unveiled Chinese-made sedans. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. plans to produce its high-end Crown model here. DaimlerChrysler AG recently announced plans for a Mercedes-Benz plant. And GM, which has made Buicks in China for years, plans to produce a symbol of Americana -- the Cadillac -- in a Chinese factory.
GM executives say offering luxury brands in China is a major part of the company's long-term strategy for sales growth in China and the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. GM is expected to assemble the Cadillac CTS sedan at its Shanghai joint-venture plant and plans build a new network in China to sell and service its vehicles. The company also is considering introducing the big Cadillac Escalade sport-utility vehicle to China. The SUV segment is China's fastest growing, with year-over-year growth of over 200%. SUVs make up about 40% of auto imports in China.
China's auto sales should top 4.3 million this year, according to the China Automotive Industry Association. Big auto companies like Volkswagen, GM and Toyota want to compete in all segments of the market. But the luxury arena could yield the highest returns, as the collective wealth of Chinese consumers climbs. Individuals now account for 70% of car sales, up from 10% a decade ago, when government agencies and companies were the main buyers, according to estimates by consulting firm Automotive Resources Asia Ltd. in Bangkok.
While demand for these costly cars is currently coming from China's nouveaux riches, foreign auto companies are enthralled by the longer-term prospect of a massive middle-class market. Almost nonexistent 10 years ago, China's middle class now comprises about 60 million people. They have increasingly easy access to credit and more money to spend. Average urban household incomes have been rising 11% a year since 1999, helping to give birth to a consumer culture. What is more, the imported auto is no longer so exotic, thanks to China cutting import tariffs and reducing red tape as part of its entry into the World Trade Organization two years ago.
Yet even as they rush to satisfy China's demand for high-end cars, auto-industry executives aren't certain how long the boom will last. Chinese analysts have worried that soon, like many other industries, China's auto sector will be producing too much for too few customers. In another sign of caution, several Chinese insurance companies recently stopped backing car loans amid concerns over defaults and the inability of banks to collect on bad debt.
Currently, German auto makers Audi, BMW and Mercedes make up 90% of the luxury market in China. Audi, which builds A4 and A6 models at a joint-venture plant in Changchun, in North China, has sold more A6 models in China than it has anywhere. Audi will likely sell a total of about 65,000 units of its A4 and A6 models this year. It also imports its high-end A8 sedan, and is planning to begin selling its compact A3 in China soon.
Audi executives said they aren't concerned about rivals' moves in China. "We will always be the premium brand in China," said John de Nysschen, Audi's president in Japan. "In Europe, we have had to work to establish ourselves as a premium brand, but in China, were never known as anything else."
But Audi's German rivals are equally sure they can do well in China. BMW and Mercedes also will sell about 12,000 cars each by the end of the year, analysts predict.
"There's a big interest to have Mercedes in China. We import 8,000 cars a year, and 5,000 of that 8,000 are S-Classes," Mercedes' top-of-the line sedan, said Juergen Hubbert, head of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz brand.
中国富人阶层崛起 豪华轿车供不应求
孙婉仪端著一杯水坐在小茶几前，她马上就要加入中国日益庞大的宝马(BMW)车主俱乐部了。孙婉仪在报纸上看到了第一款在中国生产的宝马车325i的广告后，马上就跑到了宝马在北京的展示厅。这位42岁的餐馆老板说，这款宝马车的标价是45,894美元，这个价格"太有诱惑力了，你无法拒绝。"
但当她来到展示厅时，听到了个不妙的消息。
要购买这款德国豪华车还必须等上三个月，而且价格比她预想的还要高大约12,000美元，但这并没有让孙婉仪感到沮丧。就算价格再高点，这款中国生产的宝马车仍比同一款进口宝马车便宜很多，而且相对她现有的大众Polo来说，这是一次飞跃。
她说，"价格是一个重要的因素，但我想买部更好的车。"
中国豪华车主新一族
同其他国家的消费者相比，中国消费者购买的价格在3万美元或更高价格的轿车数量很大，比例极不协调；在中国豪华车销售的利润最丰厚。虽然按西方标准多数中国人还很穷，但外国汽车制造商却在中国新兴的富裕阶层中找到了市场。事实上，在中国销售的新车中有三分之一的价格达到了豪华车的标准。
在上海，宾利车(Bentley)代理商今年就已售出了15辆，今年的目标是20辆，为去年的两倍。
访谈节目主持人杨澜经常开著一辆悍马越野车去工作，行驶在车流中颇令人瞩目。悍马是通用汽车公司(General Motors Corp.)生产的一款昂贵的军车风格越野车。上海首个劳斯莱斯(Rolls-Royce)展厅在上月开业第一周就售出了6辆。
宝马汽车公司(Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), 简称：宝马汽车)负责全球销售和市场推广的迈克尔?加纳尔(Michael Ganal)说，这家德国豪华车制造商在开发车型时越来越多地考虑亚洲消费者的品味。宝马汽车旗下拥有宝马和劳斯莱斯两大汽车品牌。
1987年，46%的宝马高级轿车在欧洲销售。现在，欧洲以外市场这类汽车的销量已占到总销量的78%。加纳尔说，最昂贵的宝马车－－12缸760轿车目前最重要的市场是中国。虽然中国近年来人们的收入增长很快，但财富分布很不均匀。中国国家统计局(National Bureau of Statistics)的数据显示，在这个城市人均年收入仍不足1,000美元的国家，中国最富有的10%的人口拥有全部城市家庭财富的45%。在北京市中心，宝马、宾利以及保时捷(Porsche)的展厅相距咫尺，凸现出这个豪华轿车市场竞争的激烈程度。
外国汽车公司热切地想知道中国豪华车市场到底有多大，他们纷纷将生产转移到中国，使中国汽车产业格局发生了巨变。大众汽车公司(Volkswagen AG)和中国第一汽车集团公司(First Automotive Works Corp.)建立了一家合资企业在中国生产奥迪(Audi)，这家合资企业今年前九个月的销售较去年增长了66%。宝马公司也和华晨中国汽车控股有限公司(Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., H.CBA, 简称：华晨中国)建立了合作关系，并在上月推出了中国生产的轿车。日本的丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)计划在中国生产高端车型皇冠(Crown)。戴姆勒克莱斯勒公司(DaimlerChrysler AG)最近宣布计划建立一个梅塞德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz 又名:平治)生产厂。在中国生产别克(Buicks)已有数年的通用汽车(GM)也打算在中国生产美国文化的象征－－凯迪拉克(Cadillac)。
GM的管理人士称，在中国生产和销售豪华轿车是公司长远战略的一个重要组成部分，是为了保持公司在中国和快速发展的亚太地区的销售增长。在上月东京汽车展(Tokyo Auto Show)上，GM表示将在明年开始销售凯迪拉克CTS轿车。GM还考虑在中国推出凯迪拉克Escalade运动型多用途车(SUV)。SUV市场似乎是中国市场中增长最快的一部分，年增长率在200%以上。SUV占中国进口汽车的40%左右。本周二，GM宣布将在上海通用合资厂组装凯迪拉克汽车并在中国建立新的豪华轿车销售和服务网络。
中国汽车工业协会(China Automotive Industry Association)称，中国的汽车销售量今年应可超过430万辆。大型汽车公司如大众、GM和丰田试图打入这个市场的每个领域。随著中国消费者总体财富的增长，豪华车市场的收益可能是最高的。据曼谷咨询公司汽车资源亚洲公司(Automotive Resources Asia Ltd.)的估计，现在个人购车数量占总量的70%，而十年前只有10%，当时政府机构和公司是主要购买者。
虽然这些豪华车的需求主要来自中国新崛起的富人，但外国汽车公司十分憧憬庞大的中产阶级的市场前景。十年前还不曾存在的中国中产阶级现在大约有6,000万人。他们越来越容易获得贷款，手上的钱也越来越多。1999年以来，城市家庭年均收入增长了11%，因此促生了消费者文化。此外，作为中国两年前进入世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization)的一部分，中国削减了进口关税，减少了繁文缛节的官方程序，进口车已不再新奇。
但就在外国汽车公司努力满足中国市场高级轿车需求的同时，汽车行业的管理人士并不能肯定这一膨胀的需求能否持续。中国的分析师担心，同很多其他行业一样，中国的汽车行业将生产出太多汽车而消费者却又太少。另外，数家中国保险公司最近不再支持汽车贷款，因为担心消费者拖欠还债以及银行无力收回坏帐。这也多少让人对中国汽车市场感到担心。
德国汽车制造商奥迪、宝马和奔驰占据了中国90%的豪华车市场。奥迪在中国东北长春的合资企业生产A4和A6型轿车，其在中国销售的A6轿车比其他任何地方都多。今年，奥迪有望总计销售大约65,000辆A4和A6轿车。公司还进口高端的A8轿车，并计划不久在中国开始销售A3微型车。
奥迪的管理人士称，他们不担心竞争对手来争夺该公司的中国市场份额。奥迪在日本的总裁John de Nysschen说，"我们将一直是中国市场的高级品牌。"但奥迪的德国竞争对手也相信他们能在中国做得很出色。分析师预计，宝马和奔驰到今年年底分别将售出12,000辆汽车。
