China local brands brace for onslaught from abroad

A model stands next to a Cadillac CIEL concept car at Auto China 2012 in Beijing April 24, 2012. General Motors expects sales of its Cadillac models in China to match U.S. sales levels by 2015 or 2016, the company's chief executive said on Monday.

China's homegrown car makers unveiled a host of new models amid glitzy lights and blaring music at the Beijing auto show this week - but also under growing uncertainty about their future.

Indigenous auto upstarts such as Chery CHERY.UL, . (0175.HK) and Great Wall (601633.SS) grew spectacularly in 2009 and 2010 but began struggling last year following the government's decision to scrap vehicle purchase incentives that favoured their small cars.

Their share of China's auto market dipped to 27.8 percent at the end of March, a drop of about 3 percentage points from the 30.9 percent peak at the end of 2010 - an all-time high, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

A more fundamental cause of their struggle, however, is pressure from low-cost cars from global auto makers. Those cars, such as the Chevy Sail subcompact, have been designed to compete head-on with the no-frills models from China brands, priced around 60,000-70,000 yuan.

"This is not a joke. It is a top priority for us to make sure Geely doesn't fail under pressure" from the foreign rivals, said Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Chairman Li Shufu in an interview earlier this month. Geely needs to do everything it can, Li said, to weather the pressure, including gaining some technology from Sweden's Volvo, which Geely acquired in 2010.