China’s automobile market continued its robust growth in October, with passenger vehicle sales clocking a year-on-year growth of 79.6 percent, and provided enough indications that China is well on its way to occupy the top perch as the largest automobile market in the world. Read More…

Domestic passenger vehicle sales in China hit a new record high in August of 2009, nearly doubling over last year, far beyond industry expectations. Read More…

Auto prices in China were expected to fall in the fourth quarter led by slowing demand, the price monitoring center under the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a report on recently.

Prices fell 2.09 percent in the first nine months due to excessive output and oversupply of new models in the second and third quarters, it said.

Auto consumption was dampened by the rising costs of automobile use, which also contributed to the price fall.

The government has unveiled an array of policies to limit car use, including raising the auto consumption tax and traffic restrictions on motorists during the Olympics. They have dampened auto sales and prices, said industry analyst Jia Xinguang.

The report noted auto dealers would habitually cut prices at year end to reach their annual sales target and clear out inventory.

It said the competition might force auto makers to cut prices as much as 3 percent. Price cuts remain the main force to boost lackluster sales in a market where supply exceeds demand.

Slowing demand dragged down September passenger car sales by 1.44 percent from the same period last year, after August sales contracted 6.24 percent from a year earlier.

The falling sales were driven by inflation and the tumbling stock market that drained consumer cash, as Jia put it.

He predicted the spreading financial crisis would drag world car sales down 0.3 percent from the 2007 level to 58.1 million units, the first fall in eight years, as the financial crisis began to affect all business sectors and the credit squeeze restricted potential buyers.

China saw a slowdown in auto sales growth in the first half of 2008, due largely to increasing gas prices and looming restrictions on vehicle operation for better air quality during the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on recently that between January and June 2008, the country sold 3.61 million passenger motor vehicles, a growth of 17.07 percent over the same period a year previous. The growth rate, however, was 5.19 percentage points lower than the 22.26 percent level recorded in the same period last year.

The total included 2.67 million cars, up 16.72 percent and 111,400 multiple purpose vehicles (MPVs), an increase of 4.09 percent. In addition, 224,300 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were sold, up 42 percent.

The top-10 brands accounted for 1.76 million units, or 65.86 percent, of the total car sales. They were FAW Volkswagen, Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai GM, FAW Toyota, Chery, Dongfeng Nissan, Beijing Hyundai, Guangzhou Honda, Geely and Chang’an Ford.

In June, 588,300 passenger vehicles were sold nationwide, up 15.23 percent over the same month last year.

The total included 433,600 cars, up 13.19 percent, 18,100 MPVs, up 4.53 percent, and 45,200 SUVs, up 49.25 percent.

Analysts with the association attributed the fast growth of SUV sales partly to mounting demand driven by disaster relief.

Experts with the Zhonglian Auto Trade Market in Beijing said most potential auto buyers had taken a wait-and-see attitude and that the market would warm again in late September upon easing of the Olympic auto restrictions.

China’s passenger-car sales rose 20.41 percent for the first quarter from a year earlier, led by two ventures of Volkswagen AG, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said recently.

Domestic car makers sold a combined 1.85 million passenger cars, including sedans, multi-purpose vehicles, sport utility vehicles and crossovers during January to March, compared with 1.53 million units for the same period of last year, the official auto association said.

The figures are impressive as the country was hit by severe snowstorms in January that halted production and delayed deliveries.

Sales for March amounted to a record of 700,500 units, up 23.55 percent from the same period of last year, fueled by heated market demand after the transportation recovery.

Meanwhile, in a separate report, first-quarter production expanded 16.4 percent to 1.82 million units, the China Passenger Car Association said.

“Many consumers placed their orders as they were afraid car prices would go up amid the surging cost of raw material such as steel and iron ore,” said Rao Da, secretary general of CPCA.

“The sizzling sales demonstrated the development of China’s auto industry is still on a fast track because it is not boosted by widespread price discounts.”

China had 163 million motor vehicles by the end of March, up 1.85 percent from the end of 2007, according to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

Automobiles and motorcycles accounted for 90.60 percent of the total, with tractors, trailers and other motor vehicles accounting for the rest, statistics from the traffic administration bureau of the ministry showed.

Of the total motor vehicles, 123 million are privately-owned, up 5.08 percent from the end of 2007, the bureau said.

Meanwhile, the number of drivers was also on the rise, reaching167 million by the end of March, up 2 percent from the end of 2007. Of the total, 66.03 percent were automobile drivers, the bureau said.

FAW-Volkswagen, the venture between Volkswagen and First Automotive Works Group, notched up the highest sales of 144,800 units for the first three months, trailed by Shanghai Volkswagen’s 137,400 units and Shanghai GM’s 116,200 vehicles.

Top 10 best sellers, which also include Chery, FAW Toyota, Dongfeng Nissan, Geely, Guangzhou Honda, Chang’an Ford Mazda and Beijing Hyundai, sold a combined 905,500 vehicles, representing 66 percent of the total.

Guangzhou Honda said sales of its latest Accord set a record of 21,068 units in March, beating Toyota’s Camry to regain the sales crown in China’s mid-to-high-class segment three months after its launch.

The three best-selling models were Volkswagen’s Santana sedan, Jetta mid-class sedan and General Motors’ Excelle.