Japan’s premium motor brands are still far behind their German rivals.
The German upmarket brands have done a wonderful job of persuading China’s new rich that riding around in one of their models is the best way to say: “I have arrived.” BMW now makes 30% of its profits in China.
.. And as Lin Huaibin at IHS Automotive, a research firm, points out, Audi has 350 dealerships in mainland China, whereas Lexus has only 120.