Major automobile manufacturers, like Japan's Toyota, are prepared to roll out small cars to buck the trend for sport-utility vehicles and long wheel-base sedans favored by Chinese consumers at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show.
In a country where motorists are particularly fond of spaciousness and the road presence that comes along with it, it is not easy to make a small car feel cool, especially to young people.
But Toyota, the biggest carmaker in the world, still wants to try and change the mindset. It is confident the rise of the young middle class will drive strong demand for entry-level models and the first car they buy often plays a decisive role in fostering brand attachment and car upgrading.
GAC Toyota, one of Toyota's joint ventures in China, considers small cars as a make- or-break battleground for the company as its current profits come from the mid- to high-end car segment. It launched its restyled hatchback Yaris L on the eve of the show. The carmaker aims to reap 40 percent of its sales from small cars by 2015.
Once considered too cute to be a car in China, the restyled Yaris L is now more edgy and comes in more color options, which is in tune with Toyota's latest colorful branding campaign in China.
Together with FAW Toyota's recently revamped Vios compact sedan, the Yaris L is expected to help Toyota fight back in China's entry-level segment where it failed to make much progress.
Although Zeng Zhiling, research director of LMC Automotive Asia Pacific, doesn't think Toyota's small car campaign has been timed perfectly, the unveiling of more stringent fuel consumption rules for cars in 2015 will help producers to develop small cars.
Small cars are helping in the development of highly-efficient powertrains at a global level. Sticking to its strategy of downsizing the engine while maintaining its performance, Ford unveiled a 1.0T variant of its Fiesta small car yesterday, whose fuel consumption is just 5.5 liters per 100 kilometers.
Chinese carmaker SAIC yesterday unveiled the new MG3 hatchback for budget-conscious first-time buyers while BMW rolled out the new Mini series for chic urban elites. Mercedes-Benz unveiled the smart electric car as the first fully electric two-seater vehicle in China.
