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 | A man looks at a Rolls-Royce luxury sedan at 
 the Shanghai auto show in this undated photo. (Shanghai 
 Star) |  How long does it take a 10 million yuan Rolls-Royce sedan to 
 find an owner in Shanghai? Four hours. 
  A Shanghainese bought the limousine just that length of time after the 
 opening of the 2005 Auto Shanghai exhibition, the largest in Asia. 
  A few hours later, another visitor to the auto show bought a Cadillac 
 sedan at the reception desk. 
  Each of the halls was crowded with thousands of 
 people who were elbowing each other for a glimpse of the fastest and most 
 expensive machines. The officials of Porsche 
 
 , for instance, were stunned by the 
 crowd rushing to ask questions about their new Porch 911 Carrera. 
  Most of the high-end luxury cars on show found buyers here, according 
 to Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post. 
  Although most of those attending earned the equivalent of a few hundred 
 US dollars a month, their dreams of owning big, fast and luxurious driving 
 machines would not be repressed. 
  "China is gearing up to be a giant market for economy and middle-class 
 cars, but also for high-end car consumers," said Wang Hu, an economist 
 from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. 
  High-end vehicle makers, suffering a slowdown in sales in the European 
 and North American markets, have turned to China for customers. 
  "I am confident about China's auto market," said Steven White, senior 
 vice-president of Nissan Motors Co Ltd. "You cannot imagine the size of 
 the market and its potential." 
  Nissan brought its luxury Fuga, a powerful new premium sedan and its 
 Quest MPV, a sport concept car first shown at the New York Auto Show. The 
 two models will be on sale in China in June and autumn respectively. 
  Nissan's Fuga was an interesting surprise, but the real stars of the 
 auto show were Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and other luxury vehicles. 
  Ferrari SpA, the Italy-based sports car maker, debuted its latest 
 model, the F430, priced at 2.6 million yuan (US$314,000). 
  "China has huge potential in the top-class automotive segment. We 
 believe it will be the No. 5 or No. 6 market for Ferrari in the next two 
 or three years," said Antonio Ghini, Ferrari brand manager. 
  The Italian sports car company, which is familiar to Chinese customers 
 for its Ferrari Formula One team, sold 42 vehicles on the Chinese mainland 
 last year, almost half of its sales since entering the market in 1993. To 
 compete with other arrivals such as Lamborghini and Porsche, Ferrari has 
 sped up its China expansion by setting up seven specialty showrooms in 
 major cities. 
  Porsche, showing off six powerful models, including the 2006 911 GT3 
 Cup and the Porsche 911 Carrera coupe, used Auto Shanghai as its first 
 opportunity to show off its cars at an exhibition in China. 
  "We have many 'first times' here," said Mark Bishop, previously 
 managing director of Porsche Middle East in Dubai and Jebsen Motor 
 International Trade in Shanghai. "It is the first time we have held an 
 auto show in China. It is the first time we have shown off our 911 
 Carrerra to the public and the first time we have revealed our 911 Carrera 
 Cup in Asia. Auto Shanghai is an important stage on which to promote our 
 brand in China." 
  The German-based car maker aims to sell more than 1,000 cars in China 
 this year, compared with about 390 in 2004. 
  Dutch sports car maker Spyker also made its first debut at this China 
 auto show, unveiling its C12 LaTurbie and Le Mans 2005. 
  (Shanghai Star) |