The hierarchy has been well and truly shaken up in recent years when it comes to motor shows. While Geneva will always be the most glamorous and Frankfurt the most tedious to get around, it's possible that China's annual show is now the most important and will be for many years to come.
Beijing and Shanghai take turns every year to play host and, in China's second largest city, the heavy hitters are here in abundance. Beijing's exhibition centre is, like much of the city, grey, stark and depressing from the outside. But step over the threshold and into any of the five ferociously hot halls and be prepared to be dazzled by the audacious, colourful and extremely noisy manufacturer stands. Again, like the city, it's chaotic and there's barely enough room to move due to the sheer volume of attendees, but this does nothing to affect the show's dominance over other markets. There's untold sums of money in China these days and the car companies would like to liberate as much of that cash as possible.
Apart from hideous congestion, China's roads suffer from poor surfaces with potholes that would be better described as craters blighting practically every route. So it's no surprise to find that, like the UAE, the Chinese market is skewed in favour of the SUV. Lamborghini's own effort truly is the star of the show but almost every company had an SUV of its own. Porsche (unveiling the Cayenne GTS for the first time), Bentley, Maserati, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Mazda and Ford - they're all at it and some of these companies have already begun building them locally.
Rising fuel prices may soon put a stop to the explosion of SUV sales but, with 1.6 million of them sold in 2011, there's obviously demand - and manufacturers are only too keen to meet increasing supply. As impressive as those sales figures are, though, they're a drop in the ocean compared with the total new car sales last year of 18.5 million. Numbers like that are impossible to ignore.
Thanks to government tax breaks (which recently ended), sales of indigenous-brand small cars and minivans have been staggering and still represent almost half the vehicles sold here. But they're rarely seen in other countries due to their oddball designs and patchy build quality.
One exception, however, is MG. Owned by SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), this once-British stronghold unveiled its Icon concept car. MG's sights are set on Europe as well as its own turf and promise that every facet of this cleverly designed (though clearly not for production) car could be made a reality if there was sufficient demand. The company's new five-door hatchback, the MG5, is also on display, 18 months ahead of its European debut and before its summer release here in China. It's good to see MG making significant forward progress and the cars will be available in the GCC, too.
The atmosphere surrounding Beijing is heavy with pollution and that's obviously of great concern to the authorities who are doing their level best to promote transport that's friendlier to the environment. VW is answering the call with its funky Beetle-derived eBugster, an electric car that the company's deadpan German representative promises will be FFFUN. With green propulsion and looks that will appeal to the world's younger buyers, it's a sign that the electric car will soon come of age.
Elsewhere, there's no shortage of shiny new metal, and Mercedes-Benz has gone for the jugular with its CSC, a production-ready car that will differ from the show car in only minor details. Visually arresting, it's a four-door coupé that practically invents yet another new subgenre. And it'll be priced less than the C-Class, too. For that to have its debut here shows the importance of the China market.
Over on the Jaguar-Land Rover stand, apart from the devastatingly gorgeous F-Type concept, there's the one millionth-built Discovery (or LR4) that's far from shiny. In fact, it's filthy because it was driven here all the way from Land Rover's UK factory. It didn't miss a beat on the five-week-long journey across some of the planet's toughest routes and is testament to JLR's ever-increasing build quality. Turns out the three back-up vehicles they sent out with the Disco were a waste of time and money.
Beijing as a show still has many improvements that need making. There's precious little visitor information anywhere and the entire layout is baffling, but one cannot help think it will all come good sooner rather than later.
I leave feeling upbeat about the state of an industry I saw dying a few years ago now returned to rude health and, while rampant consumerism has many ugly side-effects, it means the companies we know and love will still be around for quite some time.
THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
