Guangdong Leads Automotive Performance Parts Industry in China

A craze for performance tuning has emerged along with the expansion of auto ownership in China, especially in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province as well as Beijing and Sichuan.

Thanks to its proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, along with its easy access to auto fashions, Guangdong began experiencing the expansion of the auto performance-tuning industry from Hong Kong in 1997, and later on from Taiwan. The Taiwan and Hong Kong business models blended together, forming Guangdong's own unique model.

Starting out with the processing of imported parts, the export of finished products, and the counterfeiting of foreign products, Guangdong's performance-tuning industry has developed a mature business model featuring self-developed products that cater to local esthetic tastes, driving habits, and topography. This has made Guangdong the bellwether of the Chinese performance-tuning industry, with a large number of manufacturers that are rapidly catching up with Hong Kong and Taiwan in terms of technology.

Performance-tuning operators are mostly licensed by automakers, and serve as the automakers' partners in meeting the special needs of their customers.

More and more automakers have become aware of the growing market opportunities offered by the performance-tuning business, and have become involved in that business themselves. Among the best-known of these cooperating performance-tuning operators are AMG, D2, Brabus, and Carlsson, which work with Mercedes-Benz; Aschntzer, with BMW; ABT, with Volkswagen and Audi; HRC and Mugen, with Honda; TOM's and TRD, with Toyota; STI and TEIN, with Subaru; MISMO, with Nissan; and FALLIART, with Mitsubishi.

Other performance-tuning companies work with all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), including the Japan Off-Road Service (JAOS), Albaworks, TJM, ARB, and WARN. All of these companies have entered the Chinese market.

Honda, for instance, has begun offering performance-tuning services for its Civic sedan, using its own parts, to meet the demand of young drivers for vehicles with high power and a low-lying body. General Motors offers performance-tuning parts for its VIBE model, which was jointly developed with Toyota, to upgrade it to the level of a racing car.

There are a number of problems, however, that hamper the further development of the Chinese performance-tuning industry. Chaotic competition and a lack of discipline, for example, affect the interests of all related parties including manufacturers, agents, distributors, and performance-tuning service providers.

Cars that have been subject to performance tuning have a bad image in the minds of many people because of their raucous noise and uncivilized driving behavior, and many drivers and performance-tuning businesses have consequently become aware of the importance of safe and responsible driving.

Fans of performance tuning hope that the Chinese government will come up with policies and laws to regulate the performance-tuning industry properly, so that enthusiasts will be able to drive cars that reflect their individual style and are safe and environmentally friendly at the same time.