Shanghai Auto Show 2009

3:00 PM, when Yifan fell asleep, Wendy and I tried to figure out where to spend the precious 2 hours without interruption, we had the idea to visit the Shanghai Auto Show. We should cherish our opportunity to be in Shanghai, and live just 5 km away from the Shanghai International Exhibition Center, where the Auto Show is located.

Is it a Auto Show, a Model Show, or People Sea Show?

Who thought of the great idea of putting beautiful girls/models along with nice cars? With girls attracting people’s attention, and providing something that everyone is interested, the cars are even more highlighted. It turned out people’s attention follow girls, not cars. It seems so at least in terms of camera lens.

I took photos of the models of a Buick, and for Volkswagen

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Who said there are financial crisis? Look at how many people in the show! I would say, I regret immediately after I arrive at W1 Exhibition Hall – there are so many people that no one can move.

No wonder there are so many people in the show. According to latest news report, it is expected that China will, for the first time, surpass US and become the largest auto market this year. 10 million new cars are going to be shipped this year. The recent tax reduction from 10% to 5% for 1.5 liter or below greatly accelerated the speed of adoption of cars in China. After all, there are just 44 cars in every 1000 people in China, while the number is 750 in US, and 120 of the world.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Future Cars?

In the show, I feel the keywords of “Green”, or Blue (like in BlueEngine Technology), and Hybrid are everywhere. Look at this Nissan small car, which will be shipped in several years! It is cute. There is an electronic plug at the head of the car.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Wendy and I love it a lot and thought it is ideal for Wendy taking Yifan to school.

Best Booth – FAQ-Volkswagen?

I would say, the FAW-Volkswagen in the W2 is the best show I saw. It is huge, and has the best exhibition design. The most impressive stage is at far end of W2, where there are large screen displaying natural views, and city background, and models walk before the big screen – creating a very future, and natural type of feeling. It reminds me of the Taichi scene of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Other Photos

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

8 thoughts on “Shanghai Auto Show 2009

  1. Wow! That is some impressive new car show with a lot of glitter, bells and whistles. All the pretty girls really make for an exciting atmosphere.

    New car sales here in the US have been stagnate, at best, and GM announced it will shut down production at its plants for several months. Maybe GM can stimulate sales by having exciting car shows and offering to give away pretty models with the purchase of new cars. Unfortunately, I suspect that a pretty model would be more expensive to maintain than a new car.

  2. What a crowd!

    That Nissan “Nuvu” is really cute — very appealing, like a cartoon character of some sort. It looks like a very happy little car.

    The problem with driving a tiny car like that around here is that so many of the other cars on the road are four times as big/heavy as that one, and it would not stand a chance in a collision with one of the huge SUV’s. At least in your area, the majority of the other cars are already reasonably small so relative safety would not be such a great concern.

    As always, really beautiful photos, Jian Shuo :-)

    On another note, I think it will not be long before events such as that car show, where large crowds of people are mingling in close proximity, will be canceled in our area. Perhaps because of your country’s experience with SARS, back when I first started reading your blog, the Emergency Preparedness people around here are already starting to plan for and educate the public about a possible Swine Flu pandemic.

    If it’s not one thing, it’s another :-(

  3. Hi, I just want to know up to when this show will be on? and what time does it open and closes? thanks

  4. It was havoc on Saturday the whole day. It was reported there were 160,000 visitors for that Saturday itself. Nuts… The nearby roads were so congested. Police officers were flying the tickets for illegally park their car.

    Chichi, tomorrow (Tuesday) will be the last day. If you’re thinking of going, my advice is go in the morning. Because by afternoon some of the exhibitor will start preparing to end the show.

  5. Should have posted more pictures. We in Malaysia didn’t get to see them. But my friends in the car trade went all the way to enjoy them for a week.

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