Gas guzzlers are a big hit in China

By contrast, GM's SUV sales in the United States fell 22 percent in March from the same month last year.

China's auto market is still dominated by smaller, low-cost models such as the popular QQ made by Chery Automobile Co., the country's biggest domestic producer.

But even at prices below luxury levels, drivers are willing to pay for bigger wheels. Toyota Motor Corp. sold 170,000 Camry sedans in China last year, despite a price of more than 210,000 yuan ($30,000), according to J.D. Power & Associates. That is ten times the average Chinese worker's annual income.

"Chinese buyers typically like bigger cars and they have the resources to go for them," said Tim Dunne, J.D. Power's director of Asia-Pacific market intelligence.

Chrysler LLC, looking to China to help drive its resurgence as an independent company following its split with Daimler, unveiled two SUVs to be sold in China and said Sunday its new Jeep Wrangler goes on sale this month. The company says sales in China doubled in the first quarter over the same period of 2007.

Also Sunday, Volkswagen AG unveiled two sedans designed with a local partner for the China market.

Infiniti, Nissan Motor Co.'s luxury brand, announced it will launch its EX35 SUV in China this year, adding to a range of three sedans already on sale. Carlos Tavares, a Nissan executive vice president, said that portfolio should grow to 10 models in coming years.

Chery's lineup included an SUV, while Chinese maker Huanghai Motors Corp. was showing an SUV and an American-size pickup truck.

Beijing is trying to encourage the growth of China's auto industry and domestic sales — but communist leaders are alarmed at pollution and rising dependence on imported oil, which they see as a strategic weakness. China is the world's No. 2 oil consumer after the United States, and imports rose 12.3 percent last year.

Beijing and other major Chinese cities are among the world's smoggiest, and the rise of big engines and more horsepower is adding to the haze.

Authorities are expected to try to clear the air for August's Beijing Olympics by getting half the capital's 3.3 million cars off the streets during the games. No final plan has been issued, but during a four-day test last summer drivers were ordered off the road on alternate days, based on license plate numbers.

Regulators are phasing in tougher emissions standards and higher sales taxes for bigger engines. They are pushing Chinese automakers to develop fuel cells and other clean propulsion.

But bigger models reign even among customers willing to pay more for hybrids and other cleaner technology.

General Motors says it will start selling a gas-electric hybrid in China in July. It will be the first manufactured in China and the second in the market following Toyota's Prius.

GM's hybrid will be a Buick LaCrosse, a full-size sedan, after research found likely buyers wanted a car that size, said Liu, the China GM vice president. He said sales are expected to be modest.

"The Chinese consumer is still back on the curve of satisfying their basic need for transportation," said John Parker, Ford Motor Co.'s executive vice president for Asia, "rather than looking at being green."

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