According to recent statistics I found in a magazine, published by the largest German organization of car drivers, ADAC, China can now be regarded as the No.1 car producer worldwide. This I took for reason to examine some aspects of East-Asian car production.
"Sai Ou 赛欧", a Chinese manufacturer of cars offers his latest model called "Xue Fo Lan 雪佛兰". As there is no intelligible translation of the model's name, it might be a combination of the Chinese word "xue" for "snow" (German "Schnee") and the sound-adaptation "fo-lan" possibly representing the German word of "Fohlen" which means young horse. The result could therefore be "Schneefohlen", a beautiful white-coloured and energetic young horse, thus hinting at German competitors on the Chinese market (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) who are offering their top models to Chinese top clients. Such interpretation of the car's name becomes even more credible when we look at the translation of the Chinese company's name of "Sai Ou 赛欧" which simply means "Surpassing Europe" or at least, in a moderate version, "Competiting with Europe", thus directly indicating Germany which is Europe's most important exporter of cars. That's just an example how Chinese folks are thinking.
Exhibition site of Sai Ou Ltd. showing their latest model in the foreground while the background poster is referring to Sai Ou's cars of the so-called "Happiness 幸福" series:
Below are photos of the Xue FoLan model:
1.4L S-TEC III (54.3 kW/L)和1.2L S-TEC II (53.1 kW/L)发动机，0到100公里加速分别可达到11.9秒和12.9秒，而百公里综合油耗仅为5.9L和5.7L。
Reaching 100 km/h in 11.9 (54.3 kW engine) / 12.9 seconds (53.1 kW engine) while fuel consumption at 100 km/h is 5.9 / 5.7 L.
There will be five versions on the market, ranging from the basic model (1.2 L S-TEC II engine) up to the premium model (1.4 L S-TEC III engine), each of them available in six different colours.
雪佛兰新赛欧正式上市 售价5.68-6.88万元：从1.2L手动温馨版到1.4L手动优逸版，并有六种车身颜色。
By the way, if the Xue FoLan model would ever invade the European market, it could even be sold at a competitive price which lies, according to delivered equipment, between 56.800 and 68.800 Yuan which is 6.700 - 8.100 €. Even though, the actual evaluation rate of the Chinese currency, usually considered as far too low, might be subject to future adjustment due to increasing political pressure from North America and Euro zone countries, such car prices alone could guarantee a decent segment on the European car market.
As to the expected quality of Chinese cars, I should add that China already reached a high standard in the production of special steel, necessary for car production and shipbuilding. Thus, Chinese cars are not likely to get rusty faster than those from America or Europe.
But it's not all about exportation to Europe: Wealthy newcomers from within an emerging middle-class in China are targeted as well by East-Asian car manufacturers. The Japanese brand Lexus which makes part of the Toyota family is trying to sell its expensive segment of brandnew landrovers together with moderate sex in a campaign named "香车美女", a name that could be translated either as "Fine Smelling Car - Beautiful Woman", thus referring to the car's low emission rates, or as "Hongkong Car - U.S. Woman", such putting stress on Western design and technology. The landrover model, up to now assembled and sold in North America under the label of LX 570, was renamed for the Chinese market into "Conquering Dragon 霸王龙". Another interpretation of the Chinese name being "Ba Wang's Dragon" which is referring to a famous but cruel Chinese warrior. Both versions would make feel the Chinese driver like a hero of the road...
Lexus LX 570:
Even though, Japanese car sellers recently lost much credibility among their Western customers, they still enjoy a large segment on the international market. Together with an uprising Chinese giant whose output of cars for, both, local requirements and international challenges already overtook declining U.S. car production, East-Asian car manufacturers as a whole are getting more and more influential, especially when it comes to modern driving technology. This is at least what car exhibitions in Tokyo and Guangzhou (Canton) are indicating.
Statistics of worldwide car production (2011):
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