Appetite for cars growing in China

Automakers and suppliers the world over are scrambling to establish or expland manufacturing operations in China as income growth spurs a rapid rise in car sales.

With a population four times that of the U.S., China is too massive a potential mass market to miss-or dismiss. Automotive OEMs and suppliers from across the globe are intent on cultivating as large a mass market as the country's Communist rule will accommodate. They aren't about to let stand in the way little things such as a viral epidemic and a native engineering community that has little behind-the-wheel experience. And neither are their Chinese partners.

An increase of about 50% in passenger vehicle sales from 2001 to 2002 is evidence that engineering inexperience and other growing pains are not deterring growth. At 1,126,000, passenger car purchases surpassed 1 million for the first time last year. Overall vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, totaled 3.25 million in 2002.