The bar chart compares the market shares of three types of car brands in the domestic market between 2008 and 2009. There was a steep rise of approximately 8% in the market share of native-owned brands, from 25% to 33%. Meanwhile, that of Japanese brands declined noticeably by 10%, from 35% to 25%. The figure for American brands remained almost constant, at around one-tenth in both years.

The extraordinary market performance of domestic car brands can be attributed to the following factors. First and foremost, domestically produced cars are more affordable than their foreign counterparts. Another important contributor is that Chinese auto manufacturers have managed to narrow the technology gap with their foreign competitors by increasing investment in innovation and research and development. This has broken the traditional stereotype that homemade cars are inferior in quality, thus winning growing rec...