China becomes world's largest auto market

Shanghai, July 3 (Gasgoo.com) China has outpaced the United States in auto sales in the first half of this year, making itself the largest auto market in the world - the beginning of what could be a lasting trend.

Official Chinese auto data for the first half comes out next week, but from January through May, Chinese auto sales already topped 4.96 million units, up 14.29 percent from a year earlier, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The H1 sales figure of China's auto market is forecast at around 6 million, while for the whole year of 2009, the volume is expected to be somewhere between 10,130,000 and 10,300,000 autos, a CAAM report said.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the U.S. is reporting total sales for the first half of the year at 4.8 million vehicles, down 35.1 percent year on year, with bankrupted General Motors and Chrysler posting sales reduction of 40 and 46 percent respectively.

China has overtaken the U.S. as the largest auto market in the world in monthly sales this January. In 2006 China overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest vehicle market.