SOME OF THE big marques may be stuck in neutral in what they hope will become the world's biggest car market, but the atmosphere at Auto Shanghai 2005 is charged with possibility. Or is that borderline anxiety?
Count the number of pretty girls around the exhibition's stands and you'll see what I mean. Lithe, young things have helped sell wheels since ancient times, but the Shanghai stands seemed to heave with beautiful models this week.
Girls as well as cars.
There were girls on bonnets, girls on boots, girls lounging on bumpers and girls suggestively stretching over a range of car parts. Skirts were high in the Action Life sedan, and at a sensible length on the Citroen stand. Ferrari opted for pouts in spray-on, sporty pits gear next to the Ferrari F430, while Cadillac and Ssanyong preferred the smouldering sophistication of evening dress. The mainland Chery marque went for a pastoral theme, while Bentley opted for numbers, roping in six stunners for its Continental Flying Spur.
Some car-lovers might say six girls is a little over the top, even in Shanghai, but then Auto China is vital for the marque, especially with Rolls-Royce launching its long-wheelbase Phantom, with matching, bespoke glamour, at the same event.
Elsewhere, the sight of a pink Cadillac Eldorado is a reassuring beacon from the golden days of US car making - as American as apple pie, cheese-burgers and cheap petrol. But these days, everyone is focusing on Shanghai, not Detroit. Everyone needs car-mad China to massage flagging global demand. 'All the research shows that China will become the world's biggest auto market,' says a senior Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) executive. 'We're looking very optimistically into the future. If there's a slowdown, then we'll build more capacity. It's a good time to do it.'