Shanghai--Global car makers showed off hundreds of vehicles in China's commercial hub Shanghai on Monday, as the world's biggest auto market continues to attract despite a sharp deceleration in sales growth.
At China's premier auto show, foreign car makers admitted an economic slowdown in the world's second largest economy had taken its toll, but said the market was simply too big -- and important -- to ignore.
China's economy expanded 7.4 percent last year, the slowest in nearly a quarter of a century.
"The market will increase less than in former years, but still much higher than in any other relevant automotive market in the world," President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, Jochem Heizmann, told reporters on the eve of the show.
"It's still a tremendous market," he said.
Vehicle sales in China reached 23.49 million last year, well ahead of the United States, which it overtook in 2009.
But annual sales growth halved to 6.9 percent last year from 13.9 percent in 2013, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
The slowdown continued in the first three months of this year, when sales rose just 3.9 percent.
At the show, a rumoured ban on scantily clad models appeared to be in effect, as car makers used demurely dressed attendants and dance shows to draw attention to their stands at a sprawling new venue.
Among the bright spots in China is the market for SUVs (sport utility vehicles), one of the country's fastest growing segments.
"By 2018, China is expected to be the biggest market in the world for SUVs," John Lawler, Chairman and CEO of Ford Motor China, told a news conference on Monday.
AFP
