Shanghai, May 11 (Gasgoo.com) According to data released by China Automobile Industry Association (CAAM) yesterday, China auto production and sales in April maintained a rapid growth from a year earlier, reaching more than 1.5 million units, but the market share plummeted, with the Chinese-brand passenger cars' market share declining by 3%.
CAAM executive vice president and secretary general Dong Yang said that the main cause of the decline in market share is that the Chinese government has slashed the cuts in sales tax on small cars (with 1.6L and below displacement) to 25% from the previous 50% starting from January this year, and an apparent effect has been seen four months later.
Data show that passenger cars with 1.6L and below displacement boosted sales to 737,000 units, with a market share of 67% in April. However, the figure fell by 2% from March and was down by 4% year on year.
In April, Chinese-brand passenger cars saw a 3% decrease in sales to 503,000 units compared to the March level, accounting for 45.31% of the total passenger car sales. The Japanese, German, American, Korean and French passenger car sales were 20%, 14%, 11%, 7% and 3% respectively.
The own-brand passenger sedan sales reached 225,000 units, accounting for 30% of the total sales, down 1% from March, and the own-brand passenger sedans, made by joint ventures with Japan, Germany, America, Korea and France achieved 23%, 19%, 15%, 9% and 4% respectively in sales.
