Chinese invasion - A stroke of fortune

Anyone planning to visit the Detroit Auto Show in January might care to take a few friends plus cars along for the outing. Otherwise, they might feel a little lonely and neglected.

Because Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Nissan and Infiniti are staying away this year. So who does that leave then?

In Motown Detroit, the Chinese may have struck lucky. With all that unoccupied space in the main exhibition hall, this means that Brilliance and BYD can bring their new models in from the cold, leaving behind the obscure showrooms around the periphery of the site and stepping into the limelight at last. And once they've established themselves there, the stayaways may find it hard to dislodge them on some future occasion...