foreign producers look to surging China to drive slack global sales and local brands try to raise their profile following Geely's purchase of Volvo.
The show has quickly become a premier global event as explosive sales growth propelled China, a country with almost no private cars 15 years ago, past the United States in 2009 to become the world's top auto market.
Major producers that used to reserve vehicle launches for U.S. or European auto shows plan to debut 14 new models at Auto China 2010, according to organizers. Chinese manufacturers plan to show 75 new sedans, SUVs, experimental "green" cars and other vehicles. The event opens to auto writers Friday and to the public on Tuesday.
"Auto China has grown to be one of the biggest and most important auto shows of the year, joining Detroit, Tokyo and Paris," said Trevor Hale, a spokesman for Daimler AG.
The reason: China's buoyant auto market shrugged off the global crisis and sales soared by an eye-popping 45 percent last year to 13.6 million vehicles, well ahead of the 10.5 million units sold in the United States. The expansion accelerated this year, when sales jumped by 63 percent in the first quarter.
"The growth is phenomenal," said John Bonnell, a J.D. Power analyst.