Luxury car dreams for China

The luxurious Bentley limousine was a popular attraction at the Beijing car show

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- In a country famous for its millions of bicycles, the idea of owning or even getting behind the wheel of a luxury car has been parked in dreamland for most of China's 1.3 billion people.

But in China things are gradually changing and, like everywhere else, car shows are attracting the new rich and the hopeful.

At the seventh Beijing international Auto China 2002 motor show this month, car companies targeted urban professionals and government officials, spending millions of dollars on new car designs and fancy booths where salesmen extol each model's virtues.

"Our living standards have risen and owning cars is no longer just a dream," said Li, a visitor to the car show, where international auto-manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen have brought their latest products.

These luxury car makers, faced with dropping sales in countries such as Japan and the United States, are turning their attention to China, where economic boom has fueled an appetite among China's growing middle class for speed and luxury.

"We couldn't find a better time than now to come to China," Bentley Motor Cars chief executive of Beijing operations Kenneth Tsang told the China Daily.

"We are looking at the spawning of a generation of young entrepreneurs. They don't only have money, but also a passion for driving," he said.

A Passat sedan might cost six times his annual income, but for one potential owner, the numbers are immaterial.

"A car is a necessity in a man's life, like a belt or a tie," explains show-goer Cai, who plans to take out a car loan to afford his new purchase.

At China's largest auto show, which attracted 410,000 visitors, people crowded around Porsche and Group Lotus exhibits.

Lotus unveils the new Elise Type 72 at the Auto China 2002 show

According to one estimate, car manufacturers at the eight-day Beijing event received orders for nearly 10,000 vehicles.

Lotus, which used the show to open its first Beijing office, aims to sell five of the $203,000 flagship Esprit roadsters in China this year.

"We've had a lot of prospective buyers," Oh Kah Beng, Malaysia-based deputy general manager of Lotus Cars Asia Pacific, told the China Daily.

But while some choose imports, other car buyers prefer the locally assembled version.

At car dealer Guo Yong's Beijing dealership, would-be car buyers come in with the money and drive right out of the dealer's lot.

"Private buyers account for around eighty five per cent of our sales," Yong said.

Over 120 Chinese automobile companies turn out close to two million vehicles a year, about half passenger cars.

The Tianjin Auto Works produce compact cars that sell for $11,000 -- affordable to many Chinese families and as the government pars back import tariffs under its WTO commitments, many more are planning to buy.

One of a kind: Chaiman Mao's stretched limo

But it's not easy owning a car of any type in cities like Beijing, where the streets are already bursting at the seams, prompting calls to slow down the car market's growth.

Times have changed since the early 1970s when Chairman Mao Zedong ordered a six-door stretch limousine to be built to show his confidence in China's fledgling auto industry. The super-long Red Flag limousine, complete with refrigerator, desk and double sofa bed, was the first and last produced by the First Automobile Works.

But the rich entrepreneurs buying Rolls-Royces at this year's Beijing auto show are still revved up to drive around in luxury and style -- with or without any new highways.

Such big dreams are luring automakers into the Chinese market, holding car shows and plotting ways to turn the Chinese driving desires into a roaring trade.

-- CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime FlorCruz contributed to this report.