[///RMan]

Originally Posted by GTO

I've read many books & long-form articles on the Chinese car scene, but none were as informative as your pictorial report. Rating thread 5 stars & adding to our homepage .

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Insane is an understatement.
What a crazy collection! What is more surprising is the amount of expensive cars on the roads while considering the fact that the majority of purchases are self financed (only 30% are financed as of 2016). I have no clue on what basis we're comparing ourselves to China again and again. They're clearly ahead!

Besides, how's the build quality of the cars there? And is law and order strict?

They are miles ahead in terms of infrastructure and sheer money power.
Build quality of certain Chinese brands is good, not top notch but definitely workable. But a growing number of Chinese brands have started to focus on quality. Haval, Lynk and Co., Geely are getting increasingly better. Ofcourse the global brands have similar standards as seen around the world.

Law and order of highways is restricted to speed limits. Lane cutting is oft seen like on our highways. In the cities and towns though, it is a whole different level. Pedestrians are first priority, and even lane cutting, speeding or over-taking is caught on cameras which are literally at every 500 meters.

[Amit_Kapoor4750]

What a brilliant report Man!
The sheer number of brands and model left my eyes wide open. Many of us here think of Chinese automobile market full of local substantial models which are copy-paste (look wise) of their western counterparts, but your report is an eye-opener for us. Take the Tesla for an example, even a rumor of a single Tesla car coming to India is national news, whereas you spotted many of those so casually there. Now we should stop comparing auto scene with China, there are decades ahead of India.

[srishiva]

Wow Man. More than the astonishing and confusing car company joint ventures and the number of cars they produce, its your effort that's even greater. I think the infrastructure and the richer economy fuels this growth. I dont think India can ever grow this much given the way we are managed by our representatives.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

I have no clue on what basis we're comparing ourselves to China again and again.

Well said. We were comparable to China in the 80s; in the 3 decades since, China has blazed ahead. China's annual car market is now 20 million a year - 6 to 7 times larger than ours. China has even overtaken the USA in market-size and is now the world's no.1.

This is especially fascinating when you consider that a majority of Chinese customers buy cars in cash, unlike Indians & Americans.

[Ritzvxi]

Massive, massive car market. I'm just amazed by the variety of cars on sale. We have a giant to look up to, right next door. The buying on cash thing is news for me.

Thank you so much for opening the 'can of worms' for me. After your post, I feel we should look 'East' rather than 'West'.

I am so kicked right now, that I am going to ask you to write on your experiences in China (Things like what's China (Chinese people) reading, social life, aspirations (eating, living, dreaming). Apologies for the non-auto content.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by GTO

Well said. We were comparable to China in the 80s; in the 3 decades since, China has blazed ahead. China's annual car market is now 20 million a year - 6 to 7 times larger than ours. China has even overtaken the USA in market-size and is now the world's no.1.

Beyond absolute numbers is also the fact that majority of Indian sales comes from cars upto Dzire or Honda City. Chinese buyers have a lot of appetite for luxury cars. Mercedes sell more cars in a month in China than they do in India.

[///RMan]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I highly appreciate the effort that's gone into aggregating the info for this thread. I tried a bit to remember the names of the companies, but was way beyond me!

Speaking of which the Haval SUVs have now been released in Australia, and have received reasonably good reviews in the local press. Needs to be seen if they are able to break through the stigma of their brand to work sales results.

Thanks a lot ! You were the first of the folks to see the thread in the beginning and gave me certain points to work on as well. Yes, the names are beyond me too. Remembering them was a task, especially when certain brands have names on the cars written only in Chinese logograms. A big shoutout to my Chinese friends who I kept pinging time and again to help with the names. Regarding the Haval SUVs, I reckon they would be a runaway hit in our market if launched at a sensible price range. The price point in China for the H6 is mouth watering.

Originally Posted by Amit_Kapoor4750

What a brilliant report Man!
The sheer number of brands and model left my eyes wide open. Many of us here think of Chinese automobile market full of local substantial models which are copy-paste (look wise) of their western counterparts, but your report is an eye-opener for us. Take the Tesla for an example, even a rumor of a single Tesla car coming to India is national news, whereas you spotted many of those so casually there. Now we should stop comparing auto scene with China, there are decades ahead of India.

Thanks a lot! Number of brands is insane, I still have not been able to post about all of them. There are more smaller car/truck makers in the interiors of China of which very less is known about.

Originally Posted by srishiva

Wow Man. More than the astonishing and confusing car company joint ventures and the number of cars they produce, its your effort that's even greater. I think the infrastructure and the richer economy fuels this growth. I dont think India can ever grow this much given the way we are managed by our representatives.

Glad to see you and everyone else like it. Makes the effort worth it!

Originally Posted by Ritzvxi

Massive, massive car market. I'm just amazed by the variety of cars on sale. We have a giant to look up to, right next door. The buying on cash thing is news for me.

Thank you so much for opening the 'can of worms' for me. After your post, I feel we should look 'East' rather than 'West'.

I am so kicked right now, that I am going to ask you to write on your experiences in China (Things like what's China (Chinese people) reading, social life, aspirations (eating, living, dreaming). Apologies for the non-auto content.

Absolutely massive. And the best part of it is, they have the infrastructure to back it up. Otherwise the roads would have been a mess with hundreds of thousands of cars hitting the streets every week. And about the looking at East part, it is absolutely true. They have surpassed the West in terms of infrastructure part of it, be it the trains, roads, air connectivity. This was my maiden trip to China and I hope to go back soon and catch some more cars and interesting stuff again.

[sandx]

You are a true automobile aficionado, I would have posted travel experiences from a completely different perspective. The first page in this thread is a collectors item if anyone wants to keep a ready reference of car manufacturers in China. Looking at the range of vehicles, I will be extremely tempted now to wonder or ask my colleagues from the Chinese Mainland on the vehicles they drive.

Thanks for this amazing thread and the pictures of course. I would assume it will be difficult to self drive due to the language issues, what was your mode of transportation anyway. The public transportation must be spic and span as well.

[Queryanalyzer]

Thanks for this wonderful compilation. I cant imagine how you managed to put this all together.

Chinese auto market (Land of Buick!) is an astounding one and will remain for at least another decade.
I don't think this model can be replicated anywhere else in the world. Multiple factors have contributed to this, forced joint-ventures (giving rise to hoards of domestic brands), land use laws (paving the way for easy infrastructure development, unlike India), iron-fisted Communist Party of China, rapid economic growth, the list goes on and on.

[anand.shankar]

Awesome post. I was in Dallas last week, comparing these car markets to India is criminal. All we have is a primitive market with a bunch of sub standard cars being sold in large numbers!

Its funny, that many Indians look at Chinese and their products with unsubstantiated arrogance. We are probably as insignificant to them as a Sri Lanka or Figi is to us.

[V.Narayan]

///RMan you've earned yourself a PhD with this thread you've put together with its 100 to 200 photos. I appreciate the fact you blanked out the number plates of each and every one of those 200 cars in the photos and tabulated all the names for us. Rated a very well deserved 5 stars.

Originally Posted by Ritzvxi

I am so kicked right now, that I am going to ask you to write on your experiences in China (Things like what's China (Chinese people) reading, social life, aspirations (eating, living, dreaming). Apologies for the non-auto content.

A little off topic but I am tempted to answer. I employ Chinese in China and have worked with them in depth since 2002. In many ways they are just like us - very very hard working, will toil to put their kids through a good education, fiercely nationalistic and conscious that all together have to build a great China, family oriented, some are easy to get intimate with, if you desire you can very soon be visiting their homes and eating dinner with their parents, in many homes you take off your shoes before entering (sounds familiar!), like us quite cunning.....their focus is on America and on over taking America. One great thing is that you are never looked down upon even in a subtle way. In UK I have to sometimes remind certain employees that I merely happen to be boss and owner!! - most are very good but a few enough are lost in 1939. In China that never happens. The younger folks ie those born after 1970 are quite normal - what's the context here - I once had two employees (older than me) who were university students in the cultural revolution and lost 10 years of their lives to that upheaval and it showed in their behavior and difficulty in connecting with people. I could go on and on but will stop here as it is off topic. PS: don't mistake the folks from Mainland China with those from Hong Kong. Where geo-politics and political friction is concerned that is a different story altogether.

[ashwin489]

So, wait, they don't have Swift Dzire in China?

See I knew our capitalist democracy is better than communism.

[maddy42]

Amazing pictorial representation of the Chinese car culture. I was surprised by what GTO said about them buying car for cash! That is absolutely insane.

Shows that we have been left way behind in terms of economic growth. If they put their mind on something they kinda achieve it. Like islands in the ocean or a whole new port, while we keep inaugurating railway lines after the project was sanctioned in the 80s! They have more than 10000kms of highspeed rail lines while we cannot prevent people from scratching a LCD screen on a new train! More than considering them as a foe we have a lot to learn from them, we are surely stuck in the 80s!

Chinese cops have caught more people using cameras and face recognition than any country in the world. Recently a guy was caught in a concert he was attending two hours away from home! Our criminals are given election tickets.

On another note, did you visit Macau or did you go to any casino? It supposedly puts vegas to shame in size as well as gambling! I have seen poker players bet more than a million while eating chowmein!

This thread deserves 5 stars!

Maddy

[sandeepmohan]

Stumped for two reasons.
1. Your ability to photograph so many cars and to be able to detail them so well.
2. The Chinese Automotive scene is HUGE.

What I don't get is this craze for long wheel base Germans. Seems like they want a sense of space or more legroom, though for all practical purposes, the standard wheel base version will be just fine.

Very few diesels on offer. Petrol engines dominate. Chinese specific models tend to stick to small NA or turbo charged capacities.

Forget catching up with the developed world. We have a long way to go to catch up with the Chinese.

I would like to live and experience China. These guys have proven time and again that they have what it takes to thrash the rest of the world. The launch of high speed trains. They were adamant in the way they went about it. No borrowing technology. They engineered and built it themselves. In the electronics space, they rule again. Anything and everything can be manufactured at a level and quality you specify. No words to describe these guys.

Thanks for sharing.

[///RMan]

Originally Posted by sandx

You are a true automobile aficionado, I would have posted travel experiences from a completely different perspective. The first page in this thread is a collectors item if anyone wants to keep a ready reference of car manufacturers in China. Looking at the range of vehicles, I will be extremely tempted now to wonder or ask my colleagues from the Chinese Mainland on the vehicles they drive.

Thanks for this amazing thread and the pictures of course. I would assume it will be difficult to self drive due to the language issues, what was your mode of transportation anyway. The public transportation must be spic and span as well.

Haha! Thanks a lot man. I almost always asked (and still do) my Chinese friends/colleagues what cars they drive.
Self driving is a rare phenomena in China, getting a local license isn't quite easy. I had checked about it before my trip as I knew the roads were a dream to drive on. Apart from the language barrier on the roads, they do not have Google Maps in China. They have their own Navigation system, which is primarily in Mandarin. So, self-driving rentals are almost non-existent. Renting a car with a driver costs almost what we would pay here in India, and taxis are relatively cheap too. My mode of transport around the cities there was the Prado, Buick GL8 and the Haval H6 pictured in the thread. Bullet trains are brilliant, so are regular trains. Buses around the city are okay-ish tho.

Originally Posted by Queryanalyzer

Thanks for this wonderful compilation. I cant imagine how you managed to put this all together.

Chinese auto market (Land of Buick!) is an astounding one and will remain for at least another decade.
I don't think this model can be replicated anywhere else in the world. Multiple factors have contributed to this, forced joint-ventures (giving rise to hoards of domestic brands), land use laws (paving the way for easy infrastructure development, unlike India), iron-fisted Communist Party of China, rapid economic growth, the list goes on and on.

Glad you liked it. And I totally agree to the fact that the Chinese market is one of it's kind in the world.

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

Its funny, that many Indians look at Chinese and their products with unsubstantiated arrogance. We are probably as insignificant to them as a Sri Lanka or Figi is to us.

Thanks! And totally agree to that fact that we look at Chinese products with a pre-mediated notion that they would be inferior in quality. That phase has long passed. The Chinese are all about quality now, since they have managed to get their costs in check due to insane scales of economy.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

///RMan you've earned yourself a PhD with this thread you've put together with its 100 to 200 photos. I appreciate the fact you blanked out the number plates of each and every one of those 200 cars in the photos and tabulated all the names for us. Rated a very well deserved 5 stars.

Thanks a lot. Blanking the plates is a habit

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

A little off topic but I am tempted to answer. I employ Chinese in China and have worked with them in depth since 2002. In many ways they are just like us - very very hard working, will toil to put their kids through a good education, fiercely nationalistic and conscious that all together have to build a great China, family oriented, some are easy to get intimate with, if you desire you can very soon be visiting their homes and eating dinner with their parents, in many homes you take off your shoes before entering (sounds familiar!), like us quite cunning.....their focus is on America and on over taking America. One great thing is that you are never looked down upon even in a subtle way. In UK I have to sometimes remind certain employees that I merely happen to be boss and owner!! - most are very good but a few enough are lost in 1939. In China that never happens. The younger folks ie those born after 1970 are quite normal - what's the context here - I once had two employees (older than me) who were university students in the cultural revolution and lost 10 years of their lives to that upheaval and it showed in their behavior and difficulty in connecting with people. I could go on and on but will stop here as it is off topic. PS: don't mistake the folks from Mainland China with those from Hong Kong. Where geo-politics and political friction is concerned that is a different story altogether.

Brillantly put. Especially the part about over-taking America. That is like a national passion!

Originally Posted by maddy42

Amazing pictorial representation of the Chinese car culture. I was surprised by what GTO said about them buying car for cash! That is absolutely insane.

On another note, did you visit Macau or did you go to any casino? It supposedly puts vegas to shame in size as well as gambling! I have seen poker players bet more than a million while eating chowmein!
This thread deserves 5 stars!
Maddy

Thanks a lot! And nope, did not visit Macau. Just Shanghai, Changshu,Suzhou and a couple of satellite towns around Shanghai (names of which I cannot recall or type )

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Stumped for two reasons.
1. Your ability to photograph so many cars and to be able to detail them so well.
2. The Chinese Automotive scene is HUGE.

What I don't get is this craze for long wheel base Germans. Seems like they want a sense of space or more legroom, though for all practical purposes, the standard wheel base version will be just fine.

Very few diesels on offer. Petrol engines dominate. Chinese specific models tend to stick to small NA or turbo charged capacities.

Forget catching up with the developed world. We have a long way to go to catch up with the Chinese.

I would like to live and experience China. These guys have proven time and again that they have what it takes to thrash the rest of the world. The launch of high speed trains. They were adamant in the way they went about it. No borrowing technology. They engineered and built it themselves. In the electronics space, they rule again. Anything and everything can be manufactured at a level and quality you specify. No words to describe these guys.

Thanks for sharing.

I had heard about the LWB craze before going there, and did not think of it to be as widespread as it actually is. But the LWB obsession is onto a whole new level. And manufacturers making China-specific LWBs only strengthens that notion.