China overcapacity overstated?

Automakers and suppliers are taking a “build it and they will come” approach to capacity in China.

In some respects, China is defined more by what it was and might become than by what it is.

A fully developed mass market of 1.3 billion consumers is what's got automaker and supplier executives falling over each other to set up shop in China or to expand existing operations, not so much the couple of million consumers who can afford a car today. With total passenger-vehicle sales of 2.1 million in 2003, China as a passenger-vehicle market is currently about the same size as Italy. Few automotive voices are heard proclaiming that the future is in Italy.