Chinese take to the wheels, never mind the fumes

MODEL CRAZE: Car owners don’t seem too concerned about safety, pollution.

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Beijing: Wang Ran, 25, just got a new tailpipe and a turbo charger for his sedan. In the six months since he bought the sedan, the events planner has upgraded its suspension system and is getting a new engine in the coming weeks.

"Once I fix up my car, no one's car is like mine. I like my car fast and big enough to fit me," he says. Wang is a full-fledged member of China's budding car culture.

The Chinese, for decades, couldn't afford cars but now, with the country's economy racing ahead, more people here are buying cars for the very first time. Analysts say rather than getting a cheap, practical model, many prefer to save up tens of thousands of dollars for bigger and better vehicles.

"It's counterintuitive here in China. You would think every first-time car buyer would like a small ten thousand-dollar car available from the Chinese (car) makers. But, no, what our research finds is that people want to pay more money for a global brand higher quality," says Michael Dunne, of JD Power, a consumer research group.

But analyst point out that many new car owners don’t seem too concerned about road safety, where they'll park, how the vehicles drive in a traffic jam—or pollution.

Carmakers say they are gearing up for the day when Chinese car buyers will start to worry more about high fuel prices, worsening pollution, and congestion on the roads.

At the moment though, all Wang thinks about is the here and now. "As long as you are a good driver, none of that is a problem," he says. And so thousands of other Chinese.