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Top world automakers will showcase new models in China's commercial center of Shanghai this week in hopes of reviving languishing domestic sales.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and other major industry players will be showing dozens of vehicles at trade show Auto Shanghai 2005, part of Shanghai's push to establish itself as a hub for the world's auto industry.

New models on display will include concept cars such as GM's hydrogen fuel cell powered Sequel, unveiled earlier this year. Visitors will also get a chance to see luxury sports models from Jaguar, Lamborghini and Porsche, according to show organizers.

China's auto market has grown at a torrid pace in recent years as families with growing incomes shift from bicycles and scooters to their first sedans.

But sales have slowed in recent months amid intensifying competition in China's auto market.

Chinese automakers sold 574,300 passenger vehicles in the first quarter of this year, down 7.69 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

March saw a slight uptick, with passenger vehicle sales rising 2.48 percent in the month to 256,000, but demand has clearly hit a plateau. Vehicle sales are forecast to rise about 10 percent this year, compared with 75 percent growth in passenger car sales in 2003 and 15 percent last year.

Meanwhile, Chinese passenger carmakers saw their profits plunge by 78.4 percent in the first two months of 2005, amid falling sticker prices and rising costs for raw materials, especially steel. Car prices dropped an average of about 12 percent last year, according to domestic media reports.