No news is good news from 315 gala

Public relations managers for automakers probably experienced their most nervous night of the year on Wednesday, but they must have given exclamations of joy when their prepared news release was balled up and thrown into the garbage.

It was worth celebrating that none of the many automakers were exposed during the annual Consumer Rights Day Gala, hosted by China Central Television. For the first time in years, the word 'gala' did not appear as a sarcastic word to them.

A PR manager, who asked to remain anonymous, said the program sits atop many carmakers' list of priorities. Rumors circulated of some executives even skipping the Geneva auto show to prepare their companies for the program and for what to say if they were featured.