Rise in car sales drives China past US
By Jin Jing |
January 7, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Most car makers in China reported significant sale increases in 2009 to drive the country past the United States to become the world's largest auto market for the first time.
Toyota Motor Corp yesterday said its China sales last year soared 21 percent to 709,000 vehicles, led by its Chinese-made RAV 4 and Highlander sport utility vehicles as well as the Corolla sedans.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Corp and its affiliate, Kia, also increased sales by 85.9 percent to total 811,695 vehicles in China last year.
US-based General Motors Corp, the biggest international automobile maker in China, sold a record 1.83 million units, or a 67 percent jump, in 2009 and expanded its total market share to 13.4 percent in the world's fastest growing auto market.
According to the Center for Automotive Research, vehicle sales in the US slid 21 percent to 10.4 million units last year while sales in China for the first 11 months of last year already exceeded 12 million units with an annual increase of 42 percent.
"It is almost for sure that China would be the biggest for the first time in 2009," said Zhu Yiping, an official at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The government will release the auto statistics next week.
Industry analysts expect China's auto sales in 2010 to grow at a moderate pace of 10 percent to around 15 million units after the government disclosed that it would retain incentives, including tax breaks and subsidies, which helped boost demand last year.
With the recovering global economy, Ford and Nissan have announced plans to increase production in China while other car makers raised sales targets for this year and are hopeful of bullish sales again.
Battery and electric car maker BYD Automobile Co, which doubled sales to 400,000 units last year, plans to introduce five new models to double sales to 800,000 units this year.
Privately owned Geely aims to increase sales by 20 percent to 400,000 units and Guangzhou Toyota wants to drive sales up by 27 percent to 267,000 units this year.
Toyota Motor Corp yesterday said its China sales last year soared 21 percent to 709,000 vehicles, led by its Chinese-made RAV 4 and Highlander sport utility vehicles as well as the Corolla sedans.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Corp and its affiliate, Kia, also increased sales by 85.9 percent to total 811,695 vehicles in China last year.
US-based General Motors Corp, the biggest international automobile maker in China, sold a record 1.83 million units, or a 67 percent jump, in 2009 and expanded its total market share to 13.4 percent in the world's fastest growing auto market.
According to the Center for Automotive Research, vehicle sales in the US slid 21 percent to 10.4 million units last year while sales in China for the first 11 months of last year already exceeded 12 million units with an annual increase of 42 percent.
"It is almost for sure that China would be the biggest for the first time in 2009," said Zhu Yiping, an official at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The government will release the auto statistics next week.
Industry analysts expect China's auto sales in 2010 to grow at a moderate pace of 10 percent to around 15 million units after the government disclosed that it would retain incentives, including tax breaks and subsidies, which helped boost demand last year.
With the recovering global economy, Ford and Nissan have announced plans to increase production in China while other car makers raised sales targets for this year and are hopeful of bullish sales again.
Battery and electric car maker BYD Automobile Co, which doubled sales to 400,000 units last year, plans to introduce five new models to double sales to 800,000 units this year.
Privately owned Geely aims to increase sales by 20 percent to 400,000 units and Guangzhou Toyota wants to drive sales up by 27 percent to 267,000 units this year.
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