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April 10, 2010

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Home » Business » Auto

Price cuts see car sales up 56%

CHINA'S auto sales accelerated 56 percent to a three-month high in March, driven by price discounts, according to some dealers.

A total of 1.73 million vehicles were sold in China last month, with passenger cars surging 63 percent to 1.26 million units and commercial vehicles climbing 75 percent to 470,200 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

First-quarter sales revved up 76 percent to 3.52 million units, the association said.

CAAM expects the domestic auto market to grow 15 percent this year.

But some dealers said the number of visitors to showrooms has started to reverse since March and new orders have declined, prompting them to offer price discounts to spur demand.

Analysts expect the growth in autos to slow this year as smaller tax incentives may weaken demand.

A report by CAAM showed sales of passenger vehicles with capacity of 1.6 liters or less accounted for 69 percent of the total passenger car segment, 3 percentage points lower from a month earlier.

Stocks also rose to 303,900 units by March, with a 48,100-unit increase for cars.

"When the market started to cool, bigger price cuts are expected amid heated competition," said a dealer surnamed Chen who sells GM Buicks.

GM's March sales rose 68 percent to 230,048 vehicles in China, a record for the 15th consecutive month.




 

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