Auto & Society: Adaptation & Development

China, since 2009 the largest auto producer in the world, is also the country with the fastest and largest urbanization process ever seen in the world. China is expected to have 60%, or over 800 million, of its people living in cities by 2020. Cars and commercial vehicles will play a key role both in intra- and inter-urban transport, but with increasing scale and sustainability requirements, new approaches should be explored both in terms of urban planning and development of urban facilities and in terms of products and services provided by the car industry and the many industries around it. While for China this might currently be quite a new issue, given the scale and speed of its urbanization, within 5 to 10 years the country could well be at the forefront of developments in terms of new approaches and concepts for coexistence and interaction between car and society. How well automotive companies adapt to their changing role in society will determine their survival and their success, and again here China could be a source of new business models for the industry. The efforts China is dedicating to the development of electric vehicles indicate a possibility it might just be in a position to leapfrog the development of this technology and not only to become a large market for these products, but also to become a global point of reference in terms of technology and industry practices for the industry.

Forum 2010 will provide a platform - from the perspectives of government officials, industry leaders and renowned academics - for understanding the complex forces influencing the interaction between society and vehicles, governmental involvement in this process, and its impact on the development of the car industry, both within China and abroad.