SHANGHAI AUTO SHOW: The Wrap

This is my third trip to China in as many years -- and each time I come away gob-smacked by the rate of change.

When I first got to see China's car makers up close, I naively predicted they would achieve contemporary levels of styling, safety and quality within 10 to 15 years.

On my second trip I revised that forecast to 8 to 10 years. Now I reckon they are about 5 to 8 years away from achieving what took the Koreans 20 and the Japanese 40 years to do.

Of course, my measure of China's success is vastly different from the country's own assessment.

Using sales as a gauge, there is no doubt China is the new world force. It has long been said the car industry is a barometer for the economy and China cements the theory. Many international car makers sell more cars in China than in their own markets, including mega-powers General Motors and Hyundai for a kick-off.

China overtook North America as the world's biggest car market two years ago -- and it will be some time before it is challenged by any other country given it is the most populous place on earth, with 1.3 billion people.

India trails China's population tally only slightly, with 1.2 billion, but it is yet to create the wealth that will drive demand for four-wheeled mobility – even if India is expected to overtake China's population by 2030.

But just as billions of McDonald's burgers make Maccas a sales and franchising success story -- it doesn't necessarily make them the best meal in town.

It's the same with Chinese cars. There is no shortage of demand for foreign and domestic brands in China. And, as we've seen in Australia in the past two years, Chinese car companies are keen to expand their boundaries.

But to be truly taken seriously, they need to knuckle down and do the hard yards -- and engineering work -- and bring the safety, reliability and structural integrity of their new models up to scratch.

It is no great engineering feat to sell a car cheaply when it is made to lesser standards. The real genius would be to sell a car that has international five-star safety (not the watered down China NCAP award system) for a cheap-as-chips price.

Not that any Chinese manufacturers need me or any other journalist to tell them this. They're already onto it.

I know because I've seen the change with my own eyes in just the past three years. One of the key executives responsible for bringing at least two Chinese brands to Australia has been visiting the developing country for six years -- and met with almost every car maker in the process. He said even he can't believe the rate of change.

The 2011 Auto Shanghai for me will be remembered as the year the Chinese car makers began a slight turn towards their own identity -- and legitimacy.

Don't worry, there are still plenty of knock-off cars -- and guys selling knock-off watches while you eat lunch, wait in a taxi queue or file your copy on a lap-top in the media centre, as one has just done.

But they are slowly being shaken out of the system, as Chinese brands grow with confidence -- and competence.

Some of them, rather maturely, import the talent in their passion to get it right. Others, such as Geely and SAIC simply buy foreign brands whole, Geely with Volvo and SAIC with MG.

China has nationalistic pride, but it is also pragmatic -- which I believe is one of the key reasons behind its early success. They are keen to correct errors and make it better next time. Just like the Japanese and Koreans did – and still do.

It's little wonder, then, that the 14th biennial Auto Shanghai attracted such a massive crowd into such a massive site.

The 17 giant exhibition halls in the 230,000sqm complex at Hi-Tech Park, a short hop south-east of the centre of town, make Auto Shanghai the second-biggest motor show in the world by area.

Only Frankfurt is bigger -- but Shanghai has more halls, more cars and more brands on display. (For the record, Detroit's Cobo Hall is the next biggest area with 223,000sqm, ahead of Paris with 180,000sqm and Geneva with 111,000sqm).

It makes the impressive Sydney and Melbourne motor shows look like one of those telephone technician's tents you see on footpaths. And you know what? Despite the scale, Auto Shanghai feels as cramped as one of those cubbies.

Almost 10,000 journalists from 20 countries attended the first media day; but 700,000 locals will go through the electronic gates over the next 10 days.

And that's the rub. Auto Shanghai is still very much a local show. Other events attract journalists from 45-plus countries.

Why more international journalists haven't made their way here is a mystery. The automotive world is changing right in front of us – but sadly not everyone has the same vantage point.

The Chinese car makers, too, would do well to make more information available in foreign languages, or at least English as a start. And I've a sneaking suspicion not everyone with a media pass at Auto Shanghai was media. At least not the man with his wife and kids.

Fitting taxis with seatbelts would be another good idea. China is going to be a wild enough ride as it is.

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