The New Detroit

Auto plants running around the clock in China still cannot meet the burgeoning demand of a growing middle class in urban and rural areas. “Nissan Motor Co.’s factory in central China is making cars almost 24 hours a day, yet Pan Xiaowei still waited three months for her new Tiida compact to arrive at the dealership. ‘It wasn’t like this a couple of years ago,’ said Pan, 34, whose husband runs a property development company in Shandong province. ‘We used to buy and get a car straight away, and now you have to pre-order and wait.’ China overtook the U.S. last year as the world’s largest automobile market with sales surging 46 percent to 13.6 million, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Nissan, Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. are running their Chinese factories at full capacity, with overtime and weekend shifts, and still can’t deliver enough cars.”