Nissan wants to sell 300,000 cars in China this year. During 2006, the company moved 220,000 units. The Japanese company is even beginning to market its luxury Inifiniti line to the upper end of the huge market.

The trouble with the automotive business in China is that all of the big car companies want to sell a million cars there and think their sales can grow at 30% to 40% per year. The market leaders, GM (GM) and VW, are likely to find that the number of rivals with a presence in the market is getting larger as time passes.

Companies like Ford (F) and Toyota (TM) cannot afford to miss the China opportunity. But, as local car companies are not going to permanently leave the market to outsiders, and nothing goes up at 40% forever.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com.