China auto news this week(2007.04.09-2007.04.14)

This week, China auto output and sales data of March and Q1 sales  were released, from the data we can see there was a marginally increase, about 22% year on year, so industry analyst predicted that annual output and sales will break 8 mln is out of question, thus, before April, there are 150 mln vehicles running in Chinese roads and highways.

Hereunder are the top news this week:

Passenger car sales topped 1.5 million in Q1
 
By Jorvan   From:www.gasgoo.com April 09 2007

China Automobile Industry Association released the latest statistics on April 6 that from January to March, domestic automobile sales reached a total of 153.73 million units, an increase of 22.36%. Car sales reached 112.16 million, an increase of 30.14%.

Shanghai GM, Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW Volkswagen remained the top three. Chery Automobile sales surged to total 90,000 vehicles, an increase of 34.91%, and ranking fourth among all.

From January to March, MPVs (multi-purpose vehicle), sold 53,300 vehicles, an increase of 14.89%; SUV (sport utility vehicle), sold 71,600 vehicles, an increase of 15.77%; cross passenger car sold 290,800 vehicles, an increase of 1.55%.

From January to March, sales of the top ten brands were Santana, Excelle, Jetta, Camry, Xiali, QQ, Family, Elantra, Accord and Passat Linyu, with sales of 49,600, 46,000, 42,700, 39,600, 36,000, 35,900, 33,200, 32,900, 30,100 and 26,900 (vehicles), total of 372,900 vehicles, accounting for 33.25% of total sales. SUV sales of the top five brands: Tigo, Hover, Tucson and Honda CRV. MPV sales of the top five brands: Refine, Odyssey Buick GL8, Guinness and Windfashion.

Sedan sales of the top 10 enterprises are: Shanghai GM, Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW VW, Chery, Geely, Guangzhou Honda, Beijing Hyundai, PSA, FAW Toyota, and Dongfeng Nissan, sold 104,800, 102,800, 96,600, 89,600, 54,600, 54,200, 54,100, 52,200, 52,100 and 50,100 (vehicles) respectively, the top 10 enterprises sold 711,100 vehicles, accounting for 63.40% of total sales.

 
BYD Autos sales increased by 414% y-o-y in 2006

By Ally   From:www.gasgoo.com April 12 2007

According to BYD fiscal report unveiled recently, thanks to the growing business of the IT industry and auto operations, the company gains a profit margin of 1,128 million Yuan, up 113% year-on-year, of which the auto operations turns to a profit of 116 million Yuan for the first time after three years' consecutive loss; sales income of the auto operation increased by 414% to 3,230 million Yuan last year.

Market share of self-brand vehicles climbed to 30% in the first two months this year. Though the sales promotional activities launched by mainstream auto manufactures exert certain influence to these automakers, BYD maintains its strong year to date sales growth. The company sold 10,000 vehicles in January and broke this sales mark again in the third month.

China auto sales surged to 850,000 vehicles in March
 
By Jorvan   From:www.gasgoo.com April 12 2007

Monday, China Automobile Industry Association released data showing automobile production and sales saw a rapid growth in March, both exceeded more than 800,000 vehicles, total automobile sales reached 847,200 vehicles, an increase of 52.2% over February.

Data showed that passenger car sales in March were 567,000 vehicles, a large growth from that of the previous month, a growth rate of 16% year on year. The output of MPV and SUV models declined a little bit compared to the same period last year. MPV output and sales in March were 24,100 vehicles and 21,100 vehicles, grew 24.99% in output, sales declined 1.31% compared to last year. SUV output and sales in March were 25,500 vehicles and 29,300 vehicles, output grew 13.34%, but sales fell 9.46%. An insider believes it is mainly for the impact of increasing costs, which diminished the number of MPV and SUV consumers.

Earlier this year, the State Information Center estimated, auto sales this year will exceed 8 million. Automobile output and sales in the first quarter of the year reached 2.1928 million and 2.1237 million units, so 8 million is expected to be completed this year for sure.

BMW sales in Quarter One top 10,000 units
 
By Ally   From:www.gasgoo.com April 11 2007
 
BMW sales got a 34% growth to 10,177 year-on-year in the first quarter in China mainland compared with the 7,586 in the same period last year.

Sales of BMW-branded vehicles in China mainland area increased by 31% to 9,836, of which BMW 3 series, 5 series, 6 series and X3 all see a remarkable surge. BMW 7 series maintained its strong growth momentum; BMW 3 series and 5 series sales rose by 43% to 6,674 compared with 4,660 in the same quarter the previous year in this market, while MINI sales jumped by 283% to 341 units in this region.

BMW sold 12,419 BMW and MINI branded vehicles in China (including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao) in the first three months, up 25% from the 9,926 units in 2006.

BMW sales in China as well as worldwide will continue to witness strong performance in the coming months while the launch of new models will greatly boost this trend.
 

China's motor vehicle in use near 150 million units
 
By Ally   From:www.gasgoo.com April 11 2007

The number of motor vehicle in use in China come to 148 million units, up 2.17 percent from the end of last year, of which private motor vehicle saw the biggest growth.

Statistics from the Traffic Management Bureau show the number of motor vehicle in use has maintained at a stable growth, of which the amount of autos and motorcycles account for 90.51% and the quantity of private motor vehicles increased the fastest with a volume of 113 million units, representing 75.97% of the total and up 2.85% or 3.12 million compared with the end of last year.

China has 153 million motor vehicle drivers in total, up 1.97% from the year-end. Most drivers are at the age of 26 to 50, of whom 26-35 year-old drivers take for 39.39 percent while 36-50 drivers account for 41.96% and those with no more than 3 years' driving length and those with a driving standing between 6 to ten years take 25.59% and 32.01% of the total, respectively.