China’s auto market no longer rides on the notion of streets paved with gold. Instead, automakers are learning to navigate the speed bumps created by the nation’s economic slowdown, and for that, they are filling their planning tanks with high-octane can-do spirit.

Ford, with the recent launch of its new premium business sedan Taurus, is taking a huge step out of its comfort zone, where it competes with cost-effectiveness.

Wrapping up the brand’s 1515 product offensive in China, which has delivered a promise of 15 new product releases from 2011 to 2015, the C-class flagship model marks a new start in an industry turning a new leaf.

Priced between 248,800 yuan (US$38,912) and 348,800 yuan, the car joins the Buick Lacrosse, the Toyota Crown, and even Audis and BMWs in a tangled pricing war that sweeps the B+ and C segments and blurs the boundaries of luxury and mass-market brands.

As the price war grows fiercer, the threshold for premium car purchases keeps dropping, even encroaching on what has traditionally been the territory of mass-market offers. Designed specifically for China, the new Taurus is geared to strike back at price competitors.

Marin Burela, president of Changan Ford, the joint venture partner in Ford’s passenger carmaking in China, said this Taurus is targeted at discerning consumers.

“What they are looking for is a vehicle that meets their needs for both business and personal use but not at the luxury brand level,” he said at the recent Guangzhou Auto Show. “A car that is understated, and yet connects directly with their personalities”

It’s probably no coincidence that Taurus is a Zodiac sign associated with personal traits like salt-of-the-earth and pragmatic.

What the car lacks in brand premium is compensated by roomy interior space, with a length up to five meters and a 2.95-meter wheelbase, and by extensive deployment of safety and comfort features, especially for the back seat. Segment firsts include inflatable seat belts and power-reclining rear seats with optional adjustable lumbar support and a massage function.

He Chaobing, executive vice president of Changan Ford, said the company believes in the precision of the Taurus market positioning, set against the big picture of a growing premium car market. He declined to comment on sales expectations for the car.

China has a deeply entrenched “face consumption” culture that tends to overvalue luxury nameplates. That has shunted out many mass-market large sedans bordering on premium concepts, such as Buick Park Avenue, Hyundai Rohens and Citroen C6.

That culture also has sidelined Toyota Crown, the most comparable Taurus rival left now, despite its status as one of China’s earliest imported premium cars.

If the Taurus turns out to be a hard sell that requires hefty discounts to send cars out the showroom door, the company risks cannibalism within its own family as the prices of entry-level Taurus models overlap those of the top-ranging variants of Ford’s B-class sedan Mondeo.

Still, an image lift like such is much needed for a brand that is rising with aggressive product expansion in China, but yet to extend its reputation much beyond its best-selling car, the sporty compact Focus.

VW

Having suffered a puncture in its wheels of fortune, Volkswagen is now determined to get back on course in China.

Because of a sparse portfolio of SUVs disproportionate to its generally extensive product range here, the group missed out cashing in on a segment that posted more than 40 percent growth this year. SUVs have been a rare bright spot in the market slowdown.

The Volkswagen emission rigging scandal, though it affects only a limited number of diesel cars in China, has tarnished the group’s image for environmental protection, which is now a top government priority here.

Volkswagen is now determined to mount an offensive on both the SUV segment and the new energy vehicle market.

In an announcement from Volkswagen ahead of the recent Guangzhou Auto Show, the company said it would bring 10 new SUVs to China in the next three to five years, targeting different segments, price ranges and brands. It also said it will produce 15 new green energy cars locally in the next five years, based on a localized MEB platform using modular toolkit.

But has Volkswagen left it too long where SUVs are concerned?

Concerns about SUV models being overdone are starting to emerge as China’s love affair with this large versatile vehicle rolls into its second decade.

Soh Weiming, vice president for sales and marketing of Volkswagen Group China, said the introduction of 10 new SUVs, though at a relatively slow pace, will still heap pressure on competitors that have grabbed the lead in that segment.

Drawing on its huge sales volume, Volkswagen still holds a commanding presence in terms of residual value, according to a recent Chinese official survey of brands.

“The competitiveness of a new car is now also determined by its eventual value as a used car,” said Soh, noting that the market in China is starting to be driven by consumers’ desires for replacements and upgrades.

China’s slow but steady move toward vehicle electrification offers Volkswagen another opportunity to take full advantage of its big volume, bolstered up by its extensive product line-up, which will soon include up to 150 offers in China.

Arch-rival Toyota has approached this segment by focusing on hybrids, which are viewed as unfavorable “half-way solutions” by the government but are well received by consumers concerned about spotty charging facilities. By contrast, Volkswagen is choosing to bet on the government’s pledge to develop charging infrastructure to support its deployment of plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars.

“As far as I can see, nowhere else in the world is developing charging infrastructure with initiatives as high as China’s,” said Jochem Heizmann, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China. “Along the highway connecting Beijing and Shanghai, there is already a fast-charging station every 50 kilometers.”

He added that his personal request for a mounted charging box for his parking lot in Beijing recently drew an immediate response inconceivable to Germany.

The company said it expects the market to be dominated by full battery cars after 2020, when passenger cars in China have to meet a demanding fuel consumption target of an average 5 liters per 100 kilometers.

As China is highly likely to further tighten that standard, there is a good reason for a high volume player like Volkswagen to think far into the future, even ahead of its time.