Thw world's biggest car market

It’s no secret that China is the new force in the automotive world – if not the global economy. China became the world’s biggest new-car market in 2009 and hasn’t looked back since.

North America, which dominated car sales since mass production began in the early 1900s, doesn’t look like it will regain the title any time soon, if ever.

Which is why carmakers are flocking to China in droves… They’re trying to cash in on the massive growth of the middle classes.

Many manufacturers sell more vehicles in China than in their home markets; it’s true for giants such as General Motors and South Korea’s Hyundai. Even the top-end luxury brands sell more cars in China than at home, including Ferrari and Rolls-Royce (who had to install a credit card machine at the recent Shanghai motor show to take orders on the spot).

China also became the biggest global market for Audi in 2011, after falling short behind Germany by a few hundred sales in 2010. But thanks to its links to parent company Volkswagen, which set up shop in China three decades ago, Audi was one of the early pioneers in the region.

Indeed, it has taken Audi 23 years to sell one million vehicles in China but the company estimates it will take just three years to sell the next million.

Audi’s expanding factory operations there to cope with demand. It will more than double its current capacity from 300,000 to over 700,000 per year by the end of 2012.

As well as the A4, Audi currently builds a China-only stretched version of its A6 sedan which is used as a limousine. But next in line is the Q3 softroader. At the moment, it’s imported from Germany but a Chinese-made model will go on sale there by year’s end – purely to meet local demand (no exports are planned).

To prove how ready it is for the next growth spurt, Audi hosted a four-week, 6000km trek from the capital Beijing to the mountains of Yangshuo.

Our leg took us from the border crossing in Hong Kong to the unusual mountains of Yangshuo.

The Q3 proved to be the ideal car for the journey given that the high driving position enabled us to negotiate traffic bedlam better. And the long travel suspension helped cope with the countless bumps and thumps from the hidden pot holes.

China is not at all what I expected, having only been to the big cities before. Beyond the skyscrapers and neon lights China quickly delves into rural simplicity, if not poverty.

The difference is as stark as the desert beside Las Vegas, except China’s ‘desert’ is just like what you see in the movies: people on bicycles, carrying food and other goods in bamboo baskets.

There’s also a fair amount of mayhem once you get into the small towns. Heaven knows what the locals made of 20 identical golden cars with signwriting all over them.

Certainly, at times, the police didn’t know what to make of the cavalcade. Foreigners need special permission to drive in China (normally it is forbidden), and the vehicles themselves had unique registration papers – so unique that not all police divisions knew the cars were legit.

That, however, is more of a reflection of the size and pace of China than anything else. The roads are being built so fast that satellite navigation companies can barely keep up.

Indeed, our car guided us towards roads to nowhere on several occasions – or we found ourselves driving in the middle of a field, according to the map, when in fact we were on a new sealed road.

The other issue on the roads is safety: there isn’t any. The lanes may as well not be marked and the cars may as well not have indicators. Furthermore, traffic lights appear to be decoration in the big city centres.

Whether on a scooter or in a car the locals see no need to wait if the road is clear. It’s hard to argue with their logic and their pragmatism – except that it soon becomes dangerous.

The most nerve-wracking moment I experienced was a bunch of school kids on pushbikes cycling towards me – on a freeway. Then some of them wobbled – as young bike riders do in a bunch – into the car lanes.

My heart in my mouth I hit the brakes and then continued at half the posted limit while I regained my nerves. Between Guangzhou and Zhaoqing, we drove through the home town of China’s most famous export – martial arts actor Bruce Lee – and took in a kung-fu show. Balancing on tiny poles for kicks, no wonder the local kids have nerves of steel on a bike…

Our hotel that night, the OYC resort in Zhaoqing, was built to look like a palace. Indeed, they awarded themselves seven stars. It certainly had palace-like indulgences. In yet another display of the stark differences between old (poor) China and the new almost insane wealth, the dining area for breakfast and dinner had mermaids swimming behind a wall of glass. (Inside the giant fish tank were professional synchronised swimmers from Russia and Belarus.)

Just when I thought I’d seen it all we arrived at what I suspect is the most beautiful part of China full stop: the mountains of Yangshuo. They stretched for about 50km and looked like giant scoops of ice cream; so perfect was their form. No wonder they were deemed worthy of the image on China’s 20 Yuan note.

This tourist mecca of the future was all very surreal. But not half as unusual as we must have looked to the locals.