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Overseas firms had stepped up their efforts to gain a larger slice of China's rising car components sector to feed the huge demand from car makers in the country, putting much pressure on domestic car parts makers, the 21st Century Business Herald reported.

Foreign firms had more than 80 percent of the sedan components market and more than 90 percent of the auto electronics and engines market, the newspaper said.

Global components makers, such as Visteon and Delphi of the United States and Germany's MAHLE Group and Bosch, are speeding up investments in China to cash in on the fast-growing auto components market, which is being powered by the nation's booming vehicle demand.

Visteon, the second-largest car components maker in the United States, has established three joint ventures in China. It has moved its Asia-Pacific headquarters to Shanghai from Japan.

MAHLE Group set up its China headquarters in Shanghai in April and has invested 300 million yuan (US$36.28 million) in the region.

Bosch, Europe's largest auto parts producer, plans to invest US$600 million in China by 2007. It reached a joint venture deal, worth 600 million euros (US$680 million), with a Chinese company in Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu Province, earlier this year.

Delphi's investment in China could reach US$10 billion by 2007, said Chen Jianya, president of Delphi (China). The company has invested more than US$500 million in China.

China's fragmented and low-level auto components sector also provides foreign companies with a good opportunity to expand their businesses.

There are more than 4,000 component manufacturers in China, most of which are small, low-level players.

Domestic auto parts producers have to be involved in the international sourcing chain for expansion, analysts have said. But lack of sufficient information have hindered domestic makers' growth and they should respond to intensifying competition by gathering more information and joining the global sourcing chain, according to analysts.