They're more than 1 billion of people. Soon or later they surpass US in economy.
Updated: 2009-06-09 08:33
China's automobile sales will "definitely break the 10-million-unit barrier" in 2009, the China Passenger Car Association said, raising its forecast for the automobile industry this week on the back of a robust growth in vehicle sales in May, the fifth consecutive month it has climbed this year.
The association said "automobiles sales in China will touch 11 million units this year, on the basis of the total number of vehicles sold across the country in the first five months."
Data released by the association showed that China sold 812,178 units of passenger vehicles, including minivans, sports utility vehicles, and multipurpose vehicles, in May, another monthly high.
Sales jumped by a faster-than-expected 54.7 percent year-on-year, and up a slight 1.2 percent from April.
Total passenger car sales in the first five months jumped 29.6 percent, to 3.64 million units from the same period last year, said the association.
China also has, for the fifth consecutive month, beaten the US as the world's largest automobile market. "The growth in the passenger car segment will probably continue in June to hit a new monthly record, which will boost the whole-year sales to the 11-million-unit mark," said Rao Da, secretary-general of the association.
Moreover, sales in the second half are much better than that in the first six months in the automobile industry, said Rao.
GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, reported a monthly sales record in China in May. The automaker's total vehicles sales in May surged by 75 percent year-on-year to 156,000 vehicles in China.
Its minivan joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 100,258 units last month, the first time that a Chinese automaker has crossed the 100,000-unit monthly sales mark, while another venture, Shanghai GM's sales climbed more than 50 percent from a year earlier, and was ranked the third in China's sedan segment.
Volkswagen's joint venture, FAW-Volkswagen, sold 57,928 vehicles, while the German automaker's other joint venture, Shanghai Volkswagen, delivered 57,023 units in May, according to the association.
Link:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_8262047.htm
They're more than 1 billion of people. Soon or later they surpass US in economy.
True, not much of a surprise here.
As the people get a good long taste of consumerism they will begin to demand more and more from Beijing. This wonderful new economy they are enjoying could be the downfall of Chinese-style communism.
Chinese buy cars as a status symbol only to be stuck in traffic and wasting fuel. Sometimes it's cheaper and faster taking the subway or riding a bike.
It seems that everybody in China tries to be Americans at the point when Americans are breaking thier norms and reverting back to human scale sustainable living.
Well, there is a strong policy incentive behind this robust growth of auto sales this year! Remember: the gov faces huge pressure to maintain fast, healthy and steady economic growth!
The gov has rolled out a number of favorable policies to boost the auto market in the wake of the global economic recession, which has also hard hit the export-dependent Chinese economy!
Plus the reason Ordie mentioned, most Chinese people now regard ownership of cars as symbol of wealth and status. That kind of mental satisfaction outweighs the actul convenience and mobility brought by cars.
This cannot stand. Get some lawyers in there, that'll slow 'em down.
x2. I think encouraging their population to follow the American model is one of the worst mistakes China's senior leaders have made regarding their economic & urban development. Especially given the highly-concentrated nature of their population that makes it more conducive to mass transit than most of the US.
Our government is running out of revenue. They used to collect heavy tax on real estate, now the bubble has busted, they have to find creative new ways to get tax. Autos have big potential, you pay tax buying them, you pay tax parking them, you pay tax driving them, you pay double tax driving them wrong.
Deceptive "Graphic by Shen Wei" is Deceptive. It does not comport with my sense of journalistic standards.