Shanghai GM, SGMW '09 sales grow more than 63%
Shanghai, January 4 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors and its joint ventures in China sold 1.83 million vehicles in the Chinese market last year, up 66.9% year on year, the company said in a statement today. Both Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) saw their sales grow more than 63% in 2009.
Domestic sales Shanghai GM rose 63.3% to 727,620 units last year. The passenger car venture's Buick brand posted sales growth of 59.6% year on year to 447,011 units. The Excelle sold 241,109 units, remaining the brand's bestseller for the sixth consecutive year. The New Regal sold 79,930 units, and the new LaCROSSE sold 43,429 units in just six months.
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China '09 auto sales likely up 44% to 13.5 mln units
Shanghai, January 4 (Gasgoo.com) Figures due later this week are likely to show China auto sales in 2009 soared 44% to 13.5 million units, according to the average forecast of five analysts polled by Reuters.
Sales of passenger cars and other light vehicles are expected to have topped 12.75 million units in China last year, well ahead of a four-decade low of 10.3 million in the United States, according to recent forecasts from J.D. Power's Asia Pacific division.
Automakers in China launch 221 new models in '09
Shanghai, January 5 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese automakers launched a record 221 new passenger vehicle models last year, Xinhua News reported today, citing industry information.
A majority of them are upgraded models; only less than 50 are all-new one. New homegrown brand models numbered 120 in 2009, over half the total, according to the latest statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Taiwan set to unveil electric car subsidy package
Shanghai, January 5 (Gasgoo.com) Taiwan's economic planning department is set to unveil a subsidy package to promote the development of electric-powered cars on the island, Taipei Times reported today.
The E-car subsidy package, now awaiting the local government's approval, includes a reduction in commodity and license taxes and a cash rebate for electric car purchases.
SAIC Motor sees 2009 profit jumping over 900 pct
Top Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor Corp forecast on Wednesday that its 2009 net profit would jump more than 900 percent from 2008, propelled by a 57-percent year-on-year rise in vehicle sales.
Net profit for 2008 stood at 656 million yuan ($96 million), it said in a statement published in the official Shanghai Securities News.
China triples auto trade-in subsidy to 18,000 yuan
Shanghai, January 6 (Gasgoo.com) On Jan. 1, China started offering higher subsidies to vehicle owners who trade in their old vehicles for new clean ones, between 5,000 yuan ($732) and 18,000 yuan per unit, to boost new vehicle sales and help cut emissions, Xinhua News reported.
Since August 2009, China has been accepting old cars in exchange for subsidies on new car purchases. Initially, the trade-in subsidy for each clean model was 3,000-6,000 yuan. Now, the maximum of the subsidy has been tripled to 18,000 yuan.
Toyota China '09 sales up 21% to 709,000 vehicles
Shanghai, January 6 (Gasgoo.com) Toyota Motor Corp said today that it sold 709,000 vehicles in China in 2009, up 21% from a year earlier, lagging rival General Motors' 67% increase (to 1.83 million units), Reuters reported.
Analysts attributed Toyota's slower growth to its lack of small cars whose sales have soared last year in China thanks to government tax incentives. GM and Volkswagen are major beneficiaries of the policy incentives favoring small cars, while Toyota's portfolio in China is not as broad.
China auto exports rally, may rise more in '10
Shanghai, January 7 (Gasgoo.com) China's auto exports in November 2009 posted their first year-on-year increase in 15 months, a sign of recovery that will get more boost from rising global demand this year, Shanghai Daily reported this week.
China exported 40,600 vehicles in November, up 13.4% from a year earlier, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). It was the first annual rise since August 2008, when overseas sales plunged amid the global economic recession.
VW China '09 sales up 36.7% to 1.4 mln vehicles
Shanghai, January 7 (Gasgoo.com) Volkswagen AG said today that the group's sales in China's mainland and Hong Kong last year hit a record 1.4 million units, up 36.7% from 1.02 million units in 2008, Dow Jones reported.
Sales of Volkswagen brand autos reached 1.12 million units in 2009, up 32.4% from 844,491 units, the German auto giant said in a statement.
Dongfeng Motor sells 1.05 mln cars in '09, up 46%
Shanghai, January 8 (Gasgoo.com) Major Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Group sold 1.05 million passenger cars in 2009, up 45.6% year on year, as government's stimulus boosted auto demand, Reuters reported today, citing an industry source.
Dongfeng, the China partner of PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor, saw its passenger car sales in December jump 64.4% to 112,137 units, the source said. That marks a speed-up from 37.8% growth of the first three quarters of 2009.
China overtakes U.S. as world's No. 1 auto market
Shanghai, January 8 (Gasgoo.com) As government policy incentives spurred demand, China sold more than 13.5 million vehicles in 2009, increasing over 44% from sales in 2008 and overtaking the U.S. to become the world's largest auto market, Xinhua News reported today.
China's 2009 sales figure compared with 10.4 million cars and light truck sold in the United States, the lowest level in 27 years. The Chinese tally is still higher than that of the U.S. after deducting roughly 650,000 units of heavy trucks.
