Happy hours for the van people as sales drive ever upward

SGMW detected this demand even earlier. As a major automaker also based in Liuzhou, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, SGMW is a joint-venture between General Motors Co, SAIC and Wuling.

Its star products are the Wuling Zhiguang and Hongguang, both minivan models that can accommodate five to eight people or transport large amounts of cargo. In cities, they are frequently seen at roadsides, used for selling fruits and vegetables. But usually they don't have big trunks in the back.

Liang Xiaodong, sales director of SGMW passenger car division, says Wuling has covered all the first- and second-tier cities in China, and almost 70 percent of county-level cities, with more than 200 dealerships.

Last year, Wuling accounted for half the sales in the minivan market, according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

To cater for the wave of migrants to cities, SGMW has been promoting its new passenger car model Baojun for those who want to split business and leisure use. It will also launch MPV and SUV models soon.

"With people trading up, the 8 million Wuling owners may shift to Baojun or our MPV models," Liang says.

Liuzhou Motor classes its MPVs as high, medium and low end. The budget model ranges from 50,000 yuan ($8,150) to 80,000 yuan, with an engine size of only 1.5 liters, to reduce the fuel bill.

The medium-level M5 model shoots up to 80,000 yuan to 140,000 yuan, and is suited to government use. "Every year, we get a big order from the government," Cheng says.

At 150,000 to 200,000 yuan, the high-end CM7 model, which was only launched in April at the Shanghai International Auto Show, is still much cheaper than the imported or joint-venture brands that sell for between 400,000 and 600,000 yuan.

Cheng of Liuzhou says the major market for MPVs is now in coastal and central China where more villagers are moving to the cities. But as villages in the Yangtze River Delta region become more affluent, momentum in that market is showing signs of slowing down. "So Liuzhou Motor gradually moves westward," he says.

Being a niche market, models from Liuzhou Motor and SGMW don't face as much competition from foreign rivals as regular passenger cars do.

"This year, government officials began to drive Chinese cars more," Cheng notes. "This sends out a very positive signal for Chinese brands, especially for government purchase."

The current market share of MPVs among China's auto market is only 4 percent, while in mature markets the average level stands at around 10 percent - a share that would translate into 1.3 million vehicles a year in China, Cheng says.