Feria Auto Shanghai 2007

El primer modelo hecho en China del taxi negro de Londres debuta en la Exhibición de Automóviles y Tecnología en Shanghai.

Shanghai auto show opens for business

In China the Shanghai auto show has opened to record crowds. The number of cars on China's roads is expected to quadruple over the next fifteen years meaning it will soon have more cars than the United States. This report from Quentin Sommerville:

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The world's car-makers have turned up in droves at the Shanghai auto show. A generation ago there were only a million cars in all of China; now there are thirty three million and that number is expected to quadruple over the next fifteen years.

So auto manufacturers are expecting great things from China and none more so than luxury car-makers. Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce have all built extensive dealerships here. It was a market that didn't exist a few years ago, but the appearance of home grown millionaires and even billionaires has changed that. Bentley saw its sales in China double last year. Rolls Royce, with cars costing as much as two million dollars, has seen China become its third most important market after the United States and Britain. It plans to double the number of showrooms in China this year.

Beijing is uneasy about such ostentatious displays of wealth, especially as the gap between the rich and poor here continues to grow. A luxury tax on large cars was introduced last year. Coupled with import duties, it means a new Rolls or Bentley bought in China costs double what it would in the United States or Britain. But even that hasn't been enough to stop China's expanding numbers of super rich from buying the cars.

Quentin Sommerville, BBC News, Shanghai

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VOCABULARY

turned up in droves
'turned-up' es asistir o llegar y 'droves' es ganado. La idea aquí es que una gran multitud (lo equivalente a un ganado) asistió la exposición. También, la palabra 'drover' significa arreador

quadruple
cuadruplicar

dealerships
concesionario (de automóviles)

home grown millionaires
millonarios que han hecho su fortuna dentro de sus propios países

uneasy
intranquilo o preocupado

ostentatious displays of wealth
muestra ostentosa de riqueza

A luxury tax
un impuesto sobre los lujos

Coupled
añadido o agregado a (impuestos de importación)

duties
impuestos

super rich
personas sumamente ricas

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