It would appear that even the Chinese Government has tired with the never-ending torrent of sensational marketing claims that issue forth faster than the flow from a Tijuana sewage plant.
The Shanghai Auto Show is set to commence this week. More than 70 brads are due to exhibit this year showcasing perhaps as many as 100 new models, albeit many will be refreshed versions.
If it is anything like the recent Manila auto salon then it will be about as interesting as watching the grass grow, or, paint dry.
That is no slight on Manila, there was just nothing there that gave me a FIZZ, as James May would say.
I have long been bored with going to motor shows just to view another load of cloned cars with dubious looks that pretend to be the future of motoring. I don’t think they will miss me. But this year, the already cutthroat competition, particularly amongst Chinese manufacturers, looks like it may well intensify.
For the past few years there has been a consumer price war in the Peoples Republic which has resulted in a race to the bottom regarding prices. This is of course great for the consumers but not so good for more fiscally conservative legacy companies from around the world that do not enjoy the benefits of massive subsidies as the Chinese manufacturers are alleged to benefit from.
BYD are expected to hold centre stage with most of the global manufacturers jockeying to get a little attention. This year, the mood could be a more subdued one, though, as the government has cracked down on the next generation of driver assist technology when it comes to marketing claims.
Terms like ‘Smart’ or ‘autonomous’ will be frowned upon by roving government officials who will be testing such claims for honesty.
This is primarily the result of high profile crash of a Xiaomi SU7, which killed three people, when the driver tried to wrestle back control of the vehicle from the assisted driving system. The SU7 was, of course, launched at the last Shanghai show and since then has routinely outsold the Tesla Model 3 with which it competes.
Driver assist have become the key product differentiator in the Peoples Republic of late. BYD have just launched their modestly entitled Gods-Eye version as free standard equipment. They are expected to launch yet another price war as they use their size to drop their prices and pressure their competitors.
Tesla have already dropped their Full Self Driving claim, simply because it is not and are now going by the name intelligent assisted driving.
On a side note the Chinese authorities have also banned “over-the-air” software updates to driver assistance software without express permission from the government.
