Jones' confidence, or arrogance in the eyes of local Chinese carmakers, was understandable.

Back then, when the gasoline car was the only choice, even Chinese car buyers were convinced that Japanese and South Korean brands did a better job in terms of both quality and performance than local marques, let alone European or American ones.

Thanks to this mentality, the Qoros failed to sell in China despite its good quality. After struggling for more than a decade, it vanished from the scene.

When talking about its failure, one of the most frequent comments from car analysts, including John Zeng, managing director of LMC Automotive Consulting (Shanghai), was that "it was naive for a Chinese brand to carry a price tag similar to that of a Volkswagen".

The analysts were correct. As Zhang Yongzhan, a 55-year-old construction contractor in Tianjin, said: "In those days, you chose a Chinese car simply because you could not afford a foreign one."

Zhang was one of the first private car owners in China. He bought a Volkswagen Santana in 1997, but now drives a BYD Han, an electric sedan.

"The Han is nice, spacious and quiet, and money-saving compared with gasoline cars," said Zhang, who still remembers the day he took a bag of cash to a Volkswagen dealership. "It was a whopping 135,500 yuan," he said.

The switch in Zhang's preference from a gasoline VW to an electric BYD reflects the rise of new energy vehicles over the past years, with around 60 percent of the world's total NEVs produced in China now.

Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said total NEV sales are expected to reach 16 million units this year.

Last year, over 12.87 million NEVs were sold in the country, accounting for 40.9 percent of new vehicle deliveries in the year, according to the association.

The size of the market and the enthusiasm for such vehicles have fueled the rise of local giants.