Cases in India has surpassed 300,000 daily and the nation is mulling another lockdown, Malaysia sees a rise after opening up its economy with 3000 daily cases, the situation is not much different in Thailand, Indonesia and even in Europe. China on the other hand has not only managed to curb the Covid-19 pandemic to near zero levels but life seems to be back to normalcy where even large scale events are seeing success after success.
In what looks to be the largest event held during a pandemic, the 19 Shanghai International Automobile Exhibition saw 128 new models showcased by various global leading brands. The 10 day event which came to a conclusion, witnessing three new models launched by Italian luxury brand Maserati and even a sports car debuted by Hongqi, a brand under China’s leading automaker FAW Group.
It was reported over 810,000 visitors thronged the event to get a glimpse of what the future of automotive will look like where 1310 vechiles were on display by more than 1,000 companies in the auto industry. Despite the advent of Coronavirus, the organisers held the event without much restriction where crowds were able to mingle as if the pandemic was over.
The event is often aimed at building Chinese enterprises in the auto industry to develop their knowledge and inter share with foreign counterparts and has helped China grow its prominence in the industry. China has become the world’s largest car market for many years due to this collaboration. Foreign brands like Mercedes and BWM have large factories due to its welcoming policy for the sector, this has given local firms to rise indirectly as well.
This years focus was more in view of the change in the landscape with EV taking centre stage in many of the exhibitors booth, Huawei for the first time showed-off its AI powered car which runs on battery and superior intelligence.
