China made Sportscars?

China automotive industry is no doubt booming with nearly all the automotive giants clamouring for a piece of the pie. China's own car manufacturers are also growing by leaps and bounds. China car companies have focused their efforts on designing (a bit like copying for some models) and making mainstream cars such as compact cars, mid sized sedans, small MPVs and mid sized SUVs. The car companies have also started to move towards making large luxury sedans. In more recent years they have focused their efforts on EVs which seem to be the trend these days and especially fuel prices are high in China and combined with the fact that fuel rationing takes places almost every month is various parts of China.

The question remains if China car companies will deviate slightly and start making sportscars. They don't quite have the racing heritage nor any of them engaged in racing activities. making a sportscar may be a tall order for them since markets outside China will very likely shy away from a China made sportscar. Ownership of cars is still very new to many Chinese and embarking on making a sportcar for their domestic market is also not a very wise economic decision.

However saying this, at the rate China cars are improving it is not out of the question to see a China made sportscar hit the streets in China in the next 10 years. The amount of wealthy Chinese is staggering and the lifestyle sportscar can be a lucrative venture.

Korean car companies like Hyundai and Kia have yet to even make a real true sportscar. The Genesis coupe cannot really qualify as a sportscar as it is more like a Gran Tourer rather than a sportscar. In the last 15 years Kia and Hyundai have grown the fastest and they focused more on quality, design and technology rather than outright performance.

It will be interesting to see how the automotive industry will shape up in the next 10 years. The real companies to keep a look out for are:
- Volkswagen - their MQB platform is expected to be a real game changer for platform and component sharing
- Hyundai / Kia - further improvements in quality and bold steps in technology and design
- China car companies - big investments in luring top designers and engineers from Europe to improve car design, refinement and quality

Many of the Japanese car manufacturers are too conservative in their approach and this will be their Achilles heel. American car companies will continue to suffer as their quality standards have yet to see major improvements and being too US centric their cars are not sold in right hand drive countries which will limit their sales. In order for any car company to be strong it has to be a global player catering for both left and right hand drive markets.