The Detroit News reports:
Beijing -- After 8.6 million Chinese bought their first cars last year, General Motors, Volkswagen and Ford are positioning themselves to compete for return customers.
The number of car models in China's showrooms quadrupled in the past six years, forcing companies to fight for attention by unveiling vehicles at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing and the Great Wall outside the capital, and by paying Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps millions of dollars.
"It is clear that brands are still in the forming process," said Joerg Mull, chief financial officer of Volkswagen's China unit. "One of the keys for success in China in the long run is brand building and brand establishment."
About 83 percent of Chinese buyers last year purchased their first vehicle, said the State Information Center, a research arm of the government's National Development and Reform Commission. At stake for China's more than 130 carmakers is winning loyal customers in the world's largest automobile market...
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