China's auto sales growth continues as US demand flounders

China's passenger car sales to dealerships rose again in August as the world's largest auto market continued to experience high demand.

Figures published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers suggested that wholesale deliveries rose by 18.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 1.02 million units.

The increase can largely be attributed to greater discounts at showrooms as dealers attempted to clear inventories and attract consumers after sales growth began to slow in April.

Furthermore, the government announced halfway through the month that it was expanding the number of vehicles eligible for its fuel-efficient model buyer subsidies.

Overall vehicle sales increased by 16.1 per cent to 1.3 million, backing up the body's recent decision to boost its full-year forecast from 15 million to 16 million.

The China Automotive Technology and Research Center also suggested that retail deliveries of cars, sport utility and multi-purpose vehicles surged by 59 per cent to 977,320.

Ford, which is one of the Detroit-based 'Big Three' automakers, revealed that its sales in China totalled 44,047 units, representing a rise of 24 per cent from August 2009.

The company is looking to expand throughout Asia and has suggested that 70 per cent of its growth in the next decade could be thanks to higher sales in the continent.

Meanwhile, in the US, which is the world's second-largest auto market, a seasonally-adjusted annual sales rate of 11.5 million vehicles was recorded.

This represents a rise from the 11.3 million total for the second quarter but is still substantially lower than in August 2009, when the 14 million barrier was broken.

This decline can be explained by the end of the country's 'Cash for Clunkers' scrappage incentive scheme, which brought about a short-term sales boom.

However, it has been described as the worst August performance for 28 years, with General Motors (GM) reporting a fall of 25 per cent to 185,176 units.

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