China's auto price slides in year-end sales rush

Shanghai, December 15 (Gasgoo.com) Prices of China's domestically made vehicles slid slightly last month as dealers cut rates to clear stockpiles near the year end, Xinhua News reported.

November auto prices fell 1.64% from a month earlier, and 2.22% year on year in general, according to the data released by the price monitoring body of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.

Specifically, price of passenger cars shed 3.07% from a year earlier, and that for sports cars decreased 2.9%. Multi-purpose vehicles had their prices down near 1%.

Prices for imported vehicles rose 1.1% from a year earlier, with those of passenger cars up near 5% while those for off-road vehicles down 3.66%.

Spurred by government subsidies and tax incentives, China's auto market has seen brisk sales this year, with 12 million units sold in the first 11 months and more than 1.34 million units sold in November.

It is also estimated that the downward price trend will continue to rule the Chinese auto market this month when more auto makers and dealers are rushing to clear their inventories by the end of the year.

China is overtaking the United States to become the world's biggest auto market sales, with the full-year sales of 2009 set to top 13 million units.