Gasgoo.com (Shanghai May 29) - The China Passenger Car Association expects a total of 1.4 million retail automobile sales and 1.46 million automobile wholesales in China for the month of May, Economic Observer News reported today, citing a report released by the organization this week. The figures represent growth rates of 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
CPCA Secretary General Cui Dongshu points out that a key trend in May has been the focus on redesigned models. He believes that market trends are very positive, with the amount of transactions growing and sales promotions slightly increasing. "Looking at it currently, the market in May seems extremely good," Mr. Cui commented, adding that the increasing growth rate in retail sales from April to May exceeded the expectations of many and flies in contrast to trends in previous years.
Mr. Cui attributes May's performance to increased anxiety regarding the introduction of new policies limiting automobile sales and increasingly stable economic factors. Firstly, many consumers in second- and third-tier cities are buying vehicles in preparation for potential new vehicle sales restriction policies. At the same time, various factors in the housing market are leading to less activity in that market and increased attention in the automobile market.
With the market as a whole doing well, own brands have also managed to show signs of recovery. While own brands' market share fell from February to April, they began showing signs of recovery this month. However, at the same time sales of joint venture brand subcompacts grew noticeably during the month, increasing pressure on own brand subcompact sales.
In other news, the China Automobile Dealers Association released a report detailing the used-car market in April. According to the report, 501,500 used cars were traded in the month of April, up 2.38 percent from the previous month. Total transactions in the market totaled 30.94 billion RMB ($4.94b), down 4.19 percent from March.
