Car brands woo young buyers at ChinaJoy game fair

GAC Motor kicked off its new car with a cosplay performance show [SHINE]
GAC Motor kicked off its new car with a cosplay performance show [SHINE]
SHINE | 25-Jul-2021 | By Zhu Shenshen

Carmakers have “revved” their wares at ChinaJoy, Asia’s biggest game fair held in Shanghai, to woo young consumers and attract potential buyers. GAC Motor released its new Empow models on Sunday night at its booth at ChinaJoy, officially called the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference. It became the first car brand to launch a new car at the fair.

The Empow cars, priced from less than 100,000 yuan (US$15,625), target young consumers. The release event consisted of cosplay, music and dance performances and was broadcast online. Other car makers BYD, SAIC, Great Wall and startup brands set up booths or displayed their cars in the ChinaJoy exhibition halls. “In-vehicle entertainment and interaction is partly similar to mobile games. More importantly, car brands coming to the game fair can find ways to communicate with people born after 1990 or 2000,” said Hou Mingjuan, global vice president of Qualcomm.

Car owners are becoming much younger in China. About 41 percent are now people born after 1990, and they like games and digital entertainment content, researchers said. The ChinaJoy fair, held at Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong New Area, closed on Monday.