Friday, January 10, 2014

Auto sales in China see double-digit growth

BEIJING: After virtual stagnation for the last two years, vehicle sales in China rose 13.87 per cent in 2013 from a year earlier to 21.98 million units bringing cheer to the auto industry.

In December, sales set a monthly record with 2.14 million units sold, up 19.78 year on year and 0.17 per cent month on month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.

In the previous two years, auto sales growth had been below five per cent where as auto output in 2013 climbed 14.76 per cent year on year to 22.12 million units. Auto exports last year from China went down 7.46 per cent to 977,300 units.

However vehicle output and sales are expected to slowdown this year, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. Shi Jianhua, deputy secretary general of CAAM, forecast auto sales to grow 10 per cent year on year, while output will climb 8 per cent.

Significantly, Japanese cars sales in China increased despite the ongoing tensions between China and Japan over the disputed islands. Toyota said it sold record number of cars totaling 917,500 vehicles, while Honda sold 756,882 units.

Nissan reported 17 per cent increase in its sales, state- run China Daily reported. The growth of auto sales in China was despite the curbs imposed by many cities to cut pollution. The central government has issued several regulations such as restrictions on new vehicle sales.

Zhao Fuquan, head of the Research Center for Automotive Industry and Technology Innovation at Tsinghua University, said China's auto sales totaled only about two million in 2001, but shot to 22 million in 2013.

For China to have so many automobiles is a sharp change, and the country is not well prepared, Zhao said. Smog has been reported frequently in a cluster of cities in recent years and car emissions have been blamed as a culprit in the air pollution.

Traffic jams have also strained many cities. Clean-energy cars may be a way out, as well as improved public transportation, Zhao said. China reported 135 million automobiles in October 2013, according to the traffic management bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.

indiatimes.com

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