"We've paid for our show stand," said Bentley engineering chief Ulrich Eichhorn as we sat in the back of a Continental Flying Spur to escape the heat and the noise of the first media day at Auto Shanghai 2009. All four Bentleys on display -- the Flying Spur, a Continental GT Speed and GTC Speed, and an Arnage -- had been sold to eager Chinese buyers by 2pm.

A few minutes earlier, Rolls-Royce boss Tom Purves had announced the new "small" Rolls-Royce would be called the Ghost, and pointed out how appropriate it was that the name of a new Rolls-Royce -- a rare automotive event -- was announced at a show as important as Auto Shanghai. And he wasn't just playing to the crowd: in 2007 Rolls-Royce's Beverly Hills dealer was the number one dealership in the world in terms of sales. In 2008, it was fourth, behind Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Beijing.

This year China may overtake the crippled U.S. as the world's largest auto market, with sales projected to top 10 million vehicles for the year. The center of gravity of the world auto industry has shifted, perhaps forever.

 Auto Shanghai is loud and raucous; the wild, wild east of the automobile industry, with a lot of the noise made by the Chinese companies involved in a complicated web of joint venture operations with American, European, Japanese and Korean automakers. For most of this group building Toyotas, Chevys, Volkswagens and Hyundais for Chinese consumers is how they make their money. But their real ambition is to build their own cars and sell them under their own brands. A show like Auto Shanghai gives them the opportunity to turn their ambitions into...concept cars.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation manufactures Nissans, Hondas, Kias, Citroens, Peugeots, and a copy of the Hummer H1. It's just launched its own front drive compact, the S30, and showed a larger concept named Tai based on S30 hardware. It's a strange-looking thing, with odd, mismatch bonelines running from the front and rear fenders and never quite meeting in the middle.

But at least it's a real car, which is more than can be said for the sedan and SUV clay models shown by Chang'an Motors, which builds Fords, Mazdas, Suzukis and Volvos. Badged Chana, this pair are quite striking to look at -- the sedan has a hint of Volkswagen CC in the bodyside, while I like the SUV's cool asymmetric rear end -- but are little more than vaporware from a company that for now rebadges other manufacturers' cars.

Great Wall Motor is China's largest privately owned automaker, and the first to have been listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Great Wall builds lightly-disguised copies of Toyotas, Fiats, and Isuzus. The company's Peri model was banned from import to Europe by a court in Turin, Italy, on the basis it was a copy of a Fiat Panda. A copyright infringement case launched by Fiat against Great Wall in China failed, however, and the company still sells Panda copies (with slightly modified styling) such as the Hover H1 and a couple of Toyota xB knockoffs -- the hilariously named Coolbear and the new Hover M3.

But Great Wall is showing signs of moving away from blatant intellectual property theft, as evidenced by the CHC 011 and Hover H7 concepts. The Camry-sized, 3.0-liter V-6 powered CHC 011 sedan also shows some Volkswagen CC influence, spoiled only by laughably oversized lights front and rear. The H7, also 3.0-liter V-6 powered, is a generic SUV that's been hit with the ugly stick -- check that front end -- and been given glass inserts in the door panels.

On second thoughts, maybe Great Wall ought to stick to stealing.

For me the best looking -- and, more importantly, most production ready -- concepts I've seen so far are the two new cars from SAIC, the Roewe NI, and the MG6. Both cars are built on SAIC's own front-drive Roewe 550 platform, which was jointly developed in the UK and China. The NI has a vaguely BMW 1-series feel about it, particularly from the three quarter rear view, which picks up the strong bodyside crease running forward from the taillight. The MG6 is a crisply styled four door fastback with just a hint of Alfa 156 -- minus the iconic shield grille -- around the front end. Both are well styled and professionally executed vehicles that would have little trouble being accepted by western consumers providing their performance and quality was up to scratch.

But it's not all Chinese companies strutting their stuff here at Auto Shanghai. The Chinese industry has been a saviour of several of the classic Italian design houses, replacing work lost when most western and Asian automakers started to bring all their design work into their own studios.

The Mantide -- it's Italian for Praying Mantis -- is a wild take on the traditional front engine sports car done under the direction of Jason Castriota, design director at Stile Bertone. Built as a one-off for a wealthy -- and anonymous -- client, the Mantide is basically a Corvette ZR1 on acid, retaining the 200mph Chevy supercar's running gear under that over-the-top exterior. All body panels are carbon fiber, as are the wheels, saving at least 220lb over the regular ZR1. Castriota says the car was designed using a full-scale model in a rolling wind tunnel, enabling the drag co-efficient to be cut to below 0.30 while increasing downforce 30 percent. "It should perform pretty well," he says.

The Mantide -- well, a model of it, as the real car debuts at the Villa d'Este Concours in Italy later this week -- is intended as an eye catching business card for Chinese automakers seeking international design expertise from Stile Bertone.

We still think of Buick as an American brand, but the reality is it's Chinese these days, far more important, respected and relevant on the streets of Shanghai than Springfield, Illinois. The 2010 LaCrosse looks right at home in China with its sharp-edged creases and toothy Buick waterfall grille.

Sharing the stage with the new LaCrosse here in Shanghai is a new Buick concept, an MPV rather unimaginatively named Business Concept. Designed in GM's PATAC studio here in Shanghai, the Business Concept attempts to translate the LaCrosse design language onto a minivan. It's unusual -- I can't see that wavy beltline playing in Peoria, for example -- but right on the money for China, where SUVs and MPVs are seen as the Next Big Thing. Says Shanghai GM vice president Terry Johnsson: "These are the fastest growing segments in China right now."

The Buick Business Concept features a luxurious and roomy interior, and a next-generation version of GM's mild hybrid technology which features a more powerful  electric motor, and a lithium-ion battery. The system automatically shuts the engine down while the vehicle is stopped, gets it moving again on battery power only, and extends the fuel cutoff and regenerative braking to preserve energy. GM says this next generation of the belt-alternator-starter hybrid will improve fuel economy by 20 percent.

More cars, more concepts from the 2009 Auto Shanghai tomorrow.

Article key :  Auto Shanghai, Crisis, Auto Shows, The Big Picture, Misc, New Car, 2009, 2010