汽车的未来

And millions of people are willing to pay serious money to buy that sense of freedom. In China, car sales in 2013 topped 20 million units - that's up 14%, a much faster increase than in the last couple of years. Sales in America and Britain are up, too. The US is expected to report over 15 million cars sold in 2013, the highest sales since before the financial crisis. So our question this week is why is the car industry still so important to the global economy. And we've got three top car industry experts to help us power into the issue. OK, we're coming to you, Martin. You look at cleaner, kind of greener technology. Isn't it kind of depressing to see the traditional, you know, gasoline and diesel-powered car industry motoring ahead like this.

I think it's an industry that needs to evolve. I mean if you look at Siemens. They've combined energy, mobility and IT to really pioneer an era of electromobility. I think it's not happening, but it needs to happen. And if you look at big cities today, cars are actually no longer sustainable. The sales are dropping in the big cities. Alternatives need to be found. Their cars' contribution to both congestion and also their impacts on poor air quality is becoming right at the centre of livability. So people, you know, they love a nice car, but their quality of life has diminished hugely in cities.