China's private cars on road up 28% y/y in 2008

Shanghai, February 27 (Gasgoo.com) China has 19.47 million private cars on roads by the end of 2008, up 28% from a year earlier, official statistics released by National Bureau of Statistics of China showed.

The total number of motor vehicles for civilian use reached 64.67 million (including 14.92 million tri-wheel motor vehicles and low-speed trucks) by the end of 2008, up 13.5 percent, of which private-owned vehicles numbered 41.73 million, up 18.1%, according to the "Statistical Communiqué of the People's Republic of China on the 2008 National Economic and Social Development”.

The total number of cars for civilian use stood at 24.38 million, up by 24.5%, of which private-owned cars numbered 19.47 million, up by 28.0%.

Earlier this month, the Chinese government issued its detailed plan to consolidate the auto sector, including scrapping road tolls, government's buying more Chinese-brand cars, standardizing auto financing and loans, regulating the used-car market, expanding urban transportation systems, speeding up mergers of auto-making groups and supporting new-energy vehicle development.