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January 10, 2014

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Home » Business » Auto

China’s 2013 auto sales grow by double digits to reach nearly 22m

Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily | January 10, 2014, Friday | Print Edition

China’s annual auto sales overtook the milestone of 20 million units for the first time last year after growing by double digits, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday.

Deliveries of passenger cars and commercial vehicles rose 13.9 percent to nearly 22 million, almost doubling the 7 percent growth predicted by the CAAM at the beginning of last year. The rise was also 9.6 percentage points higher than the increase of 2012.

The sales volume drove China to be the largest car market in the world for a fifth straight year.

Passenger car sales powered 15.7 percent to a record high of 17.9 million units for the full year. They included over 12 million sedans as the mainstream choice, up 11.8 percent, and 1.3 million multi-purpose vehicles, which rose 1.6 times to be the fastest-growing segment.

China’s craze for sport-utility vehicles continued as nearly 3 million units were bought, up 49.4 percent.

In December, sales set a monthly record with 2.14 million units sold, up 19.78 percent year on year and 0.17 percent month on month.

“Although the economic situation was bad in 2013, there were many catalysts for the car industry,” said Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, another industry group.

“There was strong demand for replacing old vehicles with new ones. Japanese brands also rebounded after their downturn in 2012 as domestic consumers have high regard for them,” he said.

Japanese automakers sold 2.93 million passenger vehicles in China last year, up 15.3 percent year on year and rebounding from their downturn in 2012, according to CAAM data.

But domestic carmakers in general posted a below-average rise of 11.4 percent in the passenger car segment, causing their market share to fall 1.6 percentage points to 40.3 percent. Foreign brands, except Japanese models, all increased their market share, with American carmakers leading the pack.

China’s auto sales growth is likely to fall to 8-10 percent this year, said Jia Xinguang, an independent auto analyst in Beijing. He said the outlook will depend on whether the government tightens curbs to limit growth in vehicle ownership.

 

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