CHINA: Car market surge continued in October

By: just-auto.com editorial team, 9 November 2010

Car sales in China continued to surge during the month of October according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

CAAM said that wholesale deliveries of cars, sport-utility and MPVs ('passenger vehicles') was up 27% on the same month last year to stand at 1.2m units.

Passenger vehicle sales for the January-October period totalled 11.1m units, up 35.5% from a year earlier, CAAM said in a statement.

Overall vehicle sales, which include commercial vehicles, reached 1.54m units in October, up 25.5% on the same month last year.

However, analysts believe that the car market in China is enjoying a boom ahead of the expected ending of tax incentives that have boosted car purchase last year and this, alongside breakneck economic growth of around 10% pa. The market is widely expected to slow in 2011, though there is disagreement over the likely magnitude of the slowdown.

The Chinese light vehicle market – including LCVs - is heading for a bumper total of around 17m units this year, which compares with 7m units as recently as 2007.