We have all heard about the fact that Chinese made motor vehicles are about to take over the world, but how much reality is behind this claim?

In fact, a lot. Analysts estimate that by the end of this year, China will have taken Germany’s place as the world’s third largest automobile manufacturer. Seeing as how they are already at number four and, in the first few months of 2007, have sold record sales figures within China itself, this does not seem like such a far fetched claim.
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There is no doubt about it – China is going crazy for cars. In a country where ten years ago, hardly anyone owned a car, this is indeed a miracle. In the year 2006, the total number of privately owned vehicles in China had reached a total of twenty two million. This can be traced back to the country’s major economic growth since the year 1990. Throughout the last decade the country’s economy has doubled. The standard of living in major cities has increased enormously. Suddenly, everyone living in China wants a car.

The year 2000 was a milestone year in the Chinese auto industry. That was the year that the car craze broke and the denizens of China began buying automobiles like mad. For today’s Chinese consumer, a car is the very first thing on the wish list. While it used to be that owning a bicycle and home appliances was a sign of luxury and status in China, nowadays the automobile has superseded everything else and become China’s number one commodity of choice. Today, passenger vehicles account for half of China’s total car production. 66% of all cars in China are privately owned.
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Okay. So it is a given fact that by the year 2020, the vast majority of us car owners will probably be driving around in China made vehicles. They are quickly on their way to becoming the largest automobile producers in the world.

But few people are aware of the fact that the Chinese are also exploring another key automotive industry – that of electric automobiles.

The Chinese research in to electric cars goes back to 2001, when a special national initiative was launched in an effort to explore this very topic.
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These days, more and more Europeans and Americans are feeling the heat when it comes to China – especially when it comes to the Chinese automotive industry. The fact is, the Chinese car making industry is the fastest growing such industry in the world today. Chinese cars have already begun being sold in Europe, and will this year begun being sold in the United States of America. While the cars might not be up to par with western standards of quality, they do have a few things going for them. Namely, they are a lot cheaper than American cars. That means that new car owners, or families on a budget, will be increasingly attracted to the models that China continues to introduce on the market year after year.

What is more, Chinese cars get excellent gas mileage. In an era where gas prices are on the rise, particularly in developed nations such as the United States of America, the Chinese alternative looks more and more attractive.
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There is a shiny new name in the booming Chinese car industry. That name is Brilliance.

Brilliance China Automobiles first got off their feet in the year 2003, when they signed a deal with BMW to start manufacturing Chinese sedans for domestic sale. Based in Shenyang, Liaoning, Brilliance had existed previously as a car part manufacturer.

Thanks to their deal with BMW, however, it seems that Brilliance is taking things to the next step. Already, they have managed to develop a variety of top selling brand names in China, including JinBei, Granse, and Zhonghua.
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