Report: China is the biggest auto market in the world
By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
For the first time ever, China has overtaken the US in vehicle sales for the first half of 2009. Does it signal the end of US as the world‚ biggest auto market? China had strong sales in June, an increase of 36.5%. China‚ total vehicle sales for the first half of the year rose to 6.1 million, up 17.7% from a year earlier. In the US, vehicle sales in the same period dropped to 4.8 million units.
The only month where more vehicles were sold in the U.S. than in China was May. This rate also leaves the U.S. on track for an annual total of less than 10 million vehicles while China is looking at more than 12 million. That is not to say that China was immune from the global economic crisis. China‚ vehicle sales weakened in late 2008. Its government responded with a stimulus package comprising of sales tax cuts, subsidies to trade in older cars and other incentives, according to the Associated Press. China is proving to be one of the most significant markets for the major automakers. Demand in China is picking up the slack in other parts of the world. Case in point, General Motors‚Äô sales in China rose by 38% the previous year; quite a contrast to the situation in the US where it has gone bankrupt.
[via motorauthority]
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