Local brands to take 60% of Chinese market in next 5-8 years

Shanghai. November 16 (Gasgoo.com) – Local Chinese brand cars may take 60 percent of Chinese market and joint venture brands will be reduced to 40 percent in next five to eight years, the founder and owner of China's Lifan Motor predicted.

"In the next five to eight years, China's state-owned brands, like those produced by FAW, SAIC (Shanghai Auto), Dongfeng Auto and JAC (Jianghuai Auto) will take 30 percent of Chinese market while private-owned local brands, like Geely and Lifan, will take 30 percent and Sino-foreign joint venture brands will take the rest 40 percent of Chinese auto market," Yin Mingshan, founder and owner of China's Lifan Motor Group, told the 5th China Automobile Industry Summit Forum in Shanghai earlier this month.

The Summit Forum, hosted by China-Europe International Business School, brought together a cohort of automotive business leaders, industry officials, and experts to debate and exchange views on policy issues, industry trends, business opportunities and challenges that China’s auto industry has to confront in the coming years.

"This will constitute a stable tripartite situation for Chinese automobile market," Yin said. "However, in terms of profitability, joint-venture brands will take 60 percent of Chinese market and local brands will only take the rest 40 percent. I have no reason to ignore how strong they really are."

In the first nine months of the year, local brands sold 940,000 vehicles, which represent 27 percent of Chinese market, overtaking the market shares taken by Japanese brands and German brands.

However, sales of local brand vehicles saw a remarkable decline in June-August period of the year, which represents only 23 percent of Chinese market.