Guangzhou auto show gets underway

Three major auto shows in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, as well as Los Angeles and Tokyo, were held over the weekend with new energy green vehicles a common focus at all three shows.

The 11th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition, whose theme is "lead the trend, steer the future," opened on Friday and will end Saturday. In the first two days, the auto show has attracted nearly 140,000 visitors.

The LA Auto Show and the Tokyo Motor Show are taking place from Tuesday to December 1 and from Wednesday to December 1 respectively.

Foreign brands, domestic Chinese brands and joint brands all launched new energy vehicles in Guangzhou, the China National Radio reported Sunday.

At the Guangzhou show, new energy cars were in the spotlight as Mercedes-Benz launched its hybrid electrical vehicle (HEV) E400L, while Volkswagen released its HEV XL1, the report said. Local Chinese brand Roewe's HEV Roewe 550 also attracted a lot of attention, according to the report.

Compared with previous Guangzhou auto exhibitions, there are more new cars that debuted or came to the market through the show this year, Wu Shuocheng, the chief editor of auto website auto.gasgoo.com, told the Global Times Sunday.

The Guangzhou auto exhibition attracted 737 exhibitors this year, with 915 vehicles on display and 30 global debuts this year, a new record for the exhibition, news portal people.com.cn reported Friday.

The new energy vehicle is the future trend of automobile industry, so it is being showed in the auto shows, Wu said.

For the Guangzhou auto exhibition, another driving force for new energy vehicle is that Guangzhou's city government has set a limit on the total number of vehicles in the city by conducting license-plate lottery, and it is easier to get a license for new energy cars than regular ones, Jia Xinguang, an executive director at the China Automobile Dealers Association, told the Global Times Sunday.

In addition to new energy cars, Guangzhou auto exhibition has also attracted high-end cars because customers in South China have started to upgrade their cars in recent years, Jia said.

Several luxury vehicle brands came to the Guangzhou exhibition for the first year, including Lotus, McLaren, Koenigsegg and Bugatti, according to the Guangzhou auto show's website.

The influence of the Tokyo auto show is decreasing because Japan's auto market is close to saturation and its slumping economy, Wu said.

He added that the trade barrier set by the Japanese government in the automobile industry keeps foreign producers away.

There are 178 exhibitors and 150 cars on display at the Tokyo auto show, -people.com.cn reported Friday, noting most of them are Japanese brands.

US automakers General Motors and Ford did not attend the Tokyo auto show, news agency AFP reported Sunday, noting it is the third time the two have skipped the show.

LA Auto Show unveiled 56 debut vehicles, the show's website said, but did not mention the total number of exhibitors and cars on display.