For many Chinese, consumerism has become the driving force of their revolution. It's a lifestyle or statement that domestic and foreign manufacturers want to hear in the fastest growing market in the world. Car ownership is soaring. Sales of passenger cars soared from 750,000 units in 2001 to 1.2 million in 2002 then nearly doubled to 2.1 million in 2003. According to the Beijing-based Automotive Industry Newsletter, 2.3 million cars rolled off the Chinese assembly lines in 2004 making the fourth largest producer in the world. By 2010, it is predicted that will become the world's No. 2 producer after the USA.

The desire to consume is what it's all about. And the Chinese are purchasing their dreams, not in or arcades, but in showrooms and expos. Labels are of course the lingo of any consumer culture and for many Chinese, labelscar brands, both foreign and the homespun varietyare easier to identify than the names of vice-premiers, state counselors or dead emperors: Honda (Fengtian), Mazda (Mazida), Audi (Aodi), Mercedes-Benz (Benchi), to name a few.

The first rolled off the assembly line in the 1950s, but back then and right up to the early 1980s, private passenger cars such as 'Red Flag' limousines were for China's ruling elite driven by chauffeurs. But once the Chinese could purchase their own cars, there was no turning back. By the early 1990s, one million vehicles were rolling off the assembly lines annually. With China's entry into the WTO in December 2001, the industry turned a page. Foreign manufacturers were keen to grab a piece of the fastest growing market in the world. Major foreign players include U.S.-based General Motors, BMW, Mercedes, and Japanese giants Toyota Motors and Honda Motors. In March 2003, Mercedes signed a 450 million euro deal Brilliance Automotive, China's largest minivan maker.