China auto news this week (Oct 15-20, 2007)

China produced and sold 6.45 mln automobiles in Jan-Sept

Shanghai. October 17 (Gasgoo.com) In the first nine months this year, China has produced and sold 6.51 mln automobiles, up 22.78 percent and sold 6.45 mln, up 24.46 percent from one year earlier, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In the first nine months this year, China has produced 4.62 mln and sold 4.58 mln passenger vehicles which represent an increase of 21.49 percent and 23.84 percent respectively.

In the same period, China has produced 1.89 mln and sold 1.87 commercial vehicles, up 26.04 percent and 26.01 percent respectively.

In terms of passenger vehicles, China has sold 3.44 mln sedans in domestic market in this period, up 25.76 percent from one year earlier. Experts predict that China will produce and sold more than 8.5 mln automobiles by the end of this year.

China exported 105,800 sedans in the first eight months, up 83.56 percent

Shanghai. October 16 (Gasgoo.com) - In the first eight month this year, China has exported 105,800 sedans to overseas markets, an increase of 83.56 percent from one year earlier, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In August, China exported a total ammount of 60,800 automobiles, up 44.11 percent year-on-year.
China's biggest auto exporter, Chery, has sold 77,000 vehicles overseas in first nine months this year, up 220 percent from one year earlier, Xinhua News Agency reported today.

Chery is expected to sell 100,000 vehicles overseas this year, according to Bureau of Commerce, Anhui province.

BMW Jan-Sept sales in China up 37 percent

Shanghai. October 16 (Gasgoo.com) - The BMW Group sold 36,300 vehicles (BMW and MINI brands combined) in mainland China in the first three quarters of 2007, an increase of 37 percent from a year earlier, the company said.

The company said in a statement that sales of BMW-branded cars in the country rose 35 pct from a year earlier to 34,876 units, with MINI up 101 percent to 1,424 from a year earlier.

Of BMW-branded cars, sales of BMW 3 and 5 series rose 38 percent year on year to 22,204 units, while the lengthened version of BMW 5-series saw increase of 53 percent to 12,236 units just one year after it came to Chinese market.

In the Greater China area, which covers the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, BMW sales during the January-September period rose 32 percent year-on-year to 43,215 units.

Honda sales up 32 percent in China

Shanghai. October 19 (Gasgoo.com)–Honda Motor Co, Japan's second-largest car maker, sold a total of 297,536 cars in Chinese market from January to September, up 31.7 percent year on year, said a Reuters report earlier this week.

The report shows that of the automaker's two joint ventures in China, sales at Guangzhou Honda climbed 12.1 percent to 208,227 units while sales of Dongfeng Motor surged by 121.7 percent to 89,309 units.

In September alone, Honda sold 45,121 vehicles in China, up 39.3 percent from a year earlier, of which sales of Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Motor were 32,322 units and 12,799 units, respectively.

A senior Honda official told Reuters earlier this year that his firm is on course to hit a level of 400,000 units in China this year, up 24% from 2006. It is targeting at least 10% of the China market by the end of this decade, up from around 7.5% last year.