China auto sales to top 13M units this year

The latest figures released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show the domestic auto market continuing to grow at a robust rate.

The latest numbers show the largest growth in November 2009, with car sales exceeding 1.35 million units, a monthly record. From January to November inclusive, China's car sales were over 12.2 million units, with annual sales expected to reach 13 million.

"It is strong evidence of how hot automobile sales are in China, despite oil price hikes and bad snow," Rao Da, Secretary General of the China Passenger Car Association, told reporters.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., the country's largest automaker and a partner of General Motors and Volkswagen, sold about 2.44 million units in the first 11 months this year, a jump of 54 percent year on year.

"And the sales peak is coming in January," Da added. "It will be unprecedented in any country's auto industry that the monthly sales continued to break records for seven months in a year."

China's auto market passed the U.S. as the world's largest earlier this year and has been the bright spot amid a global industry downturn. Sales have been boosted by a five percent cut in the purchase tax on cars with engine capacities below 1.6 liters.

In the U.S., new-vehicle sales were level for the second straight month in November, a sign that the car market was gradually recovering from the lows hit in early 2009.

Chrysler was the only big-name carmaker to report a large drop, with sales falling 26 percent. Ford, GM, Toyota and Honda each reported their sales were about the same last month as they were a year ago. Hyundai, in contrast, reported a 46 percent increase.