COMPETITION among luxury car brands is heating up, with Porsche AG opening its new showroom in Shanghai over the weekend.
The new Porsche Center Shanghai, relocated from Huaihai Road, is on Nanjing Road W. near People's Square, facing the showrooms of Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz.
Although their models cover different price ranges, they have the growing number of affluent Chinese customers in their sights.
According to a survey by HSBC, the number of China's middle class, aged between 20 to 49 with annual wages between 60,000 yuan (US$8,108) to 200,000 yuan, will reach 100 million by 2016, up from 35 million last year.
Meanwhile, the nation has recorded growth of more than 10 percent annually in gross domestic product over the past few years, and has created more than 300,000 millionaires in US-dollar terms.
Based on the latest rich list in China, more than 500 people had assets totaling more than 800 million yuan.
The growth of China's luxury car market has surprised all the car makers, who now see the mainland as a driving force in their global sales.
Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche and Turin-based Fiat's Maserati and Ferrari divisions, along with Bentley and Rolls-Royce, have all boosted their Chinese sales significantly over the past few years.
Sales of Porsche in China, which has 18 dealers nationwide, may hit 4,000 units this year compared with 2,305 units last year, sealing its leading market position.
Italian-based Ferrari also has a target to sell 160 cars on the Chinese mainland this year, a rise of 33 percent from a year earlier.
Bentley, the British luxury car brand under the wings of Germany's Volkswagen, has doubled its sales in China over the past two years after a five-year build-up.
It received orders for 400 cars on the mainland this year, of which 250 will be delivered.