Auto China

Major carmakers gathered in Beijing Monday for China's leading auto show, seeking an edge in the world's largest automobile market after a sharp slowdown in growth.

China emerged as the world's top car market in 2009, but the sector stalled dramatically last year, with sales rising just 2.5 percent to reach 18.51 million units, after the government rolled back auto-purchase incentives.

Nonetheless, many of the world's carmakers remain confident of continued steady growth in the Asian nation, where three out of every four new car purchases are by first-time buyers.

Organisers say 120 new models will be launched at the Auto China 2012 exhibition, which runs until May 2 and is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors.

"This big country merits big ambitions," said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

"So we will continue to build our manufacturing presence... all in all, the local car market will double by 2020. In turn, we will double our production capacity here by 2015."

Daimler will invest about three billion euros in China in the coming years in an effort to achieve a sales target of 300,000 units by 2015, he said.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda told reporters the growth of China's car market was unprecedented in its speed, as he unveiled a new hybrid car his company is building especially for the country of 1.3 billion people.