When China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping pulls up in a motorcade sometime in the next decade, he will probably not be riding in one of the black Audis that have become standard for Chinese top brass.
Instead, if Beijing implements new rules requiring the government to buy only local car brands, he will likely emerge from a Red Flag limousine, the boat-like chariot that ferried Chairman Mao Zedong around from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The move, announced over the weekend, is not final and would likely have a limited effect on foreign automakers in China, since government fleet sales account for less than 10 percent of car sales, according to some estimates.
But the policy is good news to Ling Liang, a sales manager at an FAW dealership in Beijing, where only two cars sat in a dimly lit showroom, with no customers.
Ling said: “We have long tradition and experience, more than other Chinese brands.”
The FAW Group includes Besturn mid-range sedans and the former Red Flag.
PUBLIC RESENTMENT
China is the world's largest auto market, but the legions of mostly German cars with tell-tale license plates bearing government, military and police designations are seen by some as diminishing that achievement.
And premium government sedans often flout traffic laws, frequently engendering resentment from a public which sees them as symbols of abuse of power and a widening wealth gap.
The government's diktat has not been explained publicly. The ministry posted a statement on its website saying only that Chinese brands must be purchased for government fleets, and asked for public comment.
It's believed however to be an attempt to put a more Chinese face to government convoys, and mollify public indignation over extravagant and arrogant behaviour by officials.
Xu Guoliang, a 36-year-old architect who was getting his A6 serviced at an Audi dealership in Beijing, put it bluntly: “Chinese people are fed up with 'the three excesses' of public officials: fancy cars, fancy meals and fancy travel.”
Today's Besturns are more modest - the B50 with a four-cylinder, 1.6-litre engine and the B70 with a two-litre six.
“They're also more affordable.”
An Audi A6 starts at 390,000 yuan (R463 000) and goes up to 700,000 yuan (R830 000) - which could buy you more than seven entry-level Besturn B50s, which start at 93,800 yuan (R112 000).
Even the most lavishly apportioned Besturn B70 sells for 165,000 yuan (R195 000), little more than half the starting price of the cheapest Audi, the compact A3 at 260,000 yuan (R306 000).
FAW is planning to revive the Red Flag brand, working on a project called the C301 which will rival the A6 when it debuts.
With 14.5 million passenger cars sold in China in 2011, annual government purchases of some 80 billion yuan (R95 billion) are still a small slice of the overall market, which is dominated by increasingly wealthy individual consumers.
But domestic automakers such as SAIC, FAW, Great Wall Motor and Chery, which produce extended-wheelbase cars, could get a boost from the policy.
Geely spokesman Victor Yang said: “It's good that we're getting some support from the government - but we should be counting on ourselves, not the government, to improve our competitiveness.”
“It's luxury, but it's low-key.”
Audi has by far been the preferred brand of Chinese officialdom going back to the 1980s.
Wang Yang, an Audi sales consultant in Beijing, said: “A lot of Chinese don't like to show off.”
Sales of foreign automakers are not expected to suffer much.
Veteran industry analyst William Russo explained: “It's like asking an American car company, 'Are you going to suffer from not selling as many taxis?’
“Beijing's new rule gives them the perfect rationale to reposition themselves away from being officials' cars to being business-owners' cars,” he said.
“It will make foreign companies more competitive in the business-owner segments.”
However, the government list did not include luxury brand Volvo, which is the only Chinese-owned premium brand.
Red Flag and SAIC's Roewe could benefit the most, as they are the only Chinese brands that come close to the plushness and leg-room of an Audi or a Mercedes-Benz.
Already, some state clients are turning to Chinese brands.
Wei Jia, manager of an SAIC dealer in Beijing, said: “Most of our clients are consumers, but we do have some government clients, especially for the Roewe 750.
“It's a good car and not that expensive. I'm sure the new policy will help our sales.” - Reuters