"...in their home market the Chinese carmakers account for less than a third of total sales."
Many in the industry predict the Chinese market, which is already the world's largest, to require 30 million vehicles per year by 2020 - compared with 18.5 million sold last year.
Germany's leading luxury car companies all reported sales growth in China of between 30% and 40% last year, and so far this year the luxury car market in China has enjoyed a growth rate close to 37%. With demand for luxury cars spreading across China, well beyond its largest cities, the competition between manufacturers is heating up too as Chinese manufacturers are getting in on the act.
At this week's show in Beijing, BAIC will show off a possible future rival to the Audi A6, the BMW 5 series and the Mercedes E-Class, which are popular chauffeur-driven models for China's wealthy. Here, home grown manufacturers such as BYD, Geely or Chery are well established, so these days they are working hard to prove that their cars are as good as those made by foreign firms, both in terms of technology and quality, as well as in terms of safety.
Nevertheless, in their home market the Chinese carmakers account for less than a third of total sales.
Hence, non-Chinese carmakers, such as General Motors (GM) and Ford, Volkswagen Group and Nissan remain optimistic. They all seem to be gunning for sales doubling in three to five years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17786962
Only 3% of Chinese own cars compared to 80% of Americans. Obviously our society has evolved as a car-dependent one, while China can try to plan one that is more mass-transit oriented.
The global climate cannot cope with Chinese owning gas-powered automobiles at anything like the percentage that Americans do, but how do you keep that from happening - less wealth for China (India and other poor countries), better technology for everyone, transportation changes in the US and the West in general as well as in countries with rapidly developing economies?