Smallest vehicle segments are gaining popularity

Nearly 40 per cent of the Chinese market is A and B segment. The B segment will increase by around 30 per cent till 2012

In Brazil about 50 per cent of household will be able to buy cars by 2012. Low-cost cars will be the most important segment

In the US, Europe and Japan the second-hand car market has begun to shift towards low-cost cars. In the US, where sales of low-cost cars had fallen in the past decade, from 307,000 units in 1996 to 70,000 in 1998, it rose to 272,000 in 2005. The base price of Chinese cars is US $5,400, rising to US $7,000-11,000

In western Europe, the low-cost car segment is expected to grow by 0.8per cent annually through 2012

The Japanese low-cost car segment is expected to grow by 0.6 per cent annually through 2012