上海车展看什么

    曾几何时，丰田（Toyota）和其他日本汽车公司几乎就要颠覆美国汽车制造商和供应商的地位。汽车行业从业者每隔一年就会准时登上飞机，到东京车展一探虚实。

    而现在，汽车行业专家在远东的必去之地已经变成了上海。中国曾经不怎么重视私人财产和奢侈品，但现在已经成为世界上规模最大、最引人关注而且增长最快的汽车市场。

    今年3月份，中国汽车销量增长了13%，将经济增速放缓的担忧一扫而光。今年全年，中国乘用车销量有望突破2,000万辆，这是美国乘用车市场从未达到过的水平。相应的，从1985年开始的上海车展（Auto Shanghai）有望在2013年达到鼎盛规模，超过吸引了近万名新闻记者的2011年车展。

    全球所有主要汽车制造商以及几十家规模较小的中国汽车厂商都将参加本次车展。汽车新闻网站TheDetroitBureau.com出版人保罗•艾森斯坦说：“从我第一次参加上海车展到现在已经有10年了，我看着它从一个几乎无关痛痒的闭塞展会变成了层出不穷的车展中较有影响力和较为重要的一个。”

    但艾森斯坦指出，上海车展的中方组织者在运输车辆、安排人员和召开新闻发布会方面的熟练程度仍然没有达到必需的水平。他说，场面“混乱得几乎像一出喜剧。”

    北美汽车行业周刊《汽车新闻》（Automotive News）认为，今年亮相的几款最重要的新车表明，汽车制造商相信中国将再次出现跨界车浪潮。这股浪潮已经席卷美国，而且正在欧洲流行开来。随着采用皮卡底盘的SUV走上下坡路，采用轿车底盘的跨界车正变得越来越受欢迎。

    宝马（BMW）选择在上海车展上发布X4跨界车。这是一款豪华车，将在南卡罗来纳州制造，主要用于出口。其中少量X4十有八九将成为中国富裕消费者的座驾。选择在这里推出X4表明，宝马认可上海的全球影响力。同时，吉普（Jeep）计划在上海车展上推出新切诺基（Cherokee），讴歌、奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）和大众（Volkswagen）的新型跨界车或SUV也将在本次车展上亮相。

    虽然中国制造的汽车还没有进入过美国市场，但一些品味不同寻常的业界领袖可能会对长安汽车（Changan Automobile）的致尚XT掀背车和中国-以色列合资生产的观致混合动力车感兴趣。

    中国汽车市场曾经是富人的游乐场，而现在它的增长则越来越多地受到了非精英消费者的推动。同时，中国富裕阶层购买的豪华车数量达到了前所未有的水平。《人民日报》（People's Daily）注意到，比利时克拉特集团（Carat Security Group）将参加本次上海车展。这家公司从事豪华轿车个性定制升级服务，拥有135年的历史。公司一名高层人士表示，克拉特集团的主要市场是中东、非洲、俄罗斯和拉美，中国则是它今后的发展目标。

    Back in the day when Toyota (TM) and the rest of Japan Inc. appeared on the verge of capsizing U.S. automakers and suppliers, industry figures dutifully boarded airliners every two years to attend the Tokyo Motor Show in a search for facts.

    The must-attend Far East venue for auto experts these days has become Shanghai. The People's Republic, once a place where private property and luxury were officially scorned, has turned into the biggest, glitziest, and fastest-growing vehicle market in the world.

    Brushing off fears of an economic slowdown, auto sales in China rose 13% in March and are on pace to break 20 million passenger vehicles in 2013 -- a level never achieved in the U.S. Accordingly, Auto Shanghai 2013 is expected to be the biggest since it was started in 1985, surpassing the last show in 2011 that attracted nearly 10,000 journalists.

    All major global auto manufacturers, plus scores of smaller Chinese companies, will be exhibiting at the show. Paul Eisenstein, publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com, an automotive website said, "In the decade since I first attended the Shanghai Auto Show, I have watched it transform from an almost irrelevant backwater event into one of the more significant and important shows on a busy calendar."

    But Eisenstein noted that Chinese organizers of the show, which this year starts on April 21, still aren't quite as facile as required in handling logistics of cars, people, and press conferences. There's "almost a comic sense of confusion," he said.

    Automotive News said this year's top automotive debuts reflect what automakers believe will be a repetition in China of the crossover trend, which has swept the U.S. and is taking hold in Europe. Crossovers, built on car chassis, have been rising in popularity as heavier SUVs with pickup chassis have been declining.

    BMW chose the Shanghai show to introduce its X4 crossover, a luxury vehicle that will be built in South Carolina, mostly for export. In all likelihood a small number of this model will be sold to Chinese consumers – wealthy ones. The choice of venue reflects the global visibility BMW attaches to it. Also planned for introduction are Jeep's new Cherokee, as well as crossover or SUVs from Acura, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen.

    Though China doesn't yet export to the U.S., motor heads with a taste for the unusual may be interested in Changan Automobile's Zhishang XT, a hatchback, and the Qoros hybrid, the product of a Chinese-Israeli joint venture.

    The growth of the Chinese automobile market, once a playground only for the wealthy, is being fueled more and more by consumers who aren't elite. At the same time, the rich are buying more luxury than ever before. People's Daily noted that Carat Security Group, a 135-year-old Belgian company that modifies cars with armored plating, will be among the exhibitors. A Carat executive said that the Middle East, Africa, Russia, and Latin America are its main markets, though China is a target of future growth.