<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published June 10, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Stimulus driving up China car sales dramatically
May sales soar 47%, the biggest jump since Feb 2006
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(BEIJING) China's passenger-vehicle sales rose 47 per cent in May, the biggest jump since February 2006, as tax cuts and government subsidies helped extend the country's lead over the US as the world's biggest auto market this year.
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</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Vehicle boom: Industrywide, China's vehicle sales rose 14 per cent to 4.96 million units in the first five months </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Chinese drivers bought 829,100 cars, sport-utility vehicles and other passenger vehicles last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement yesterday.
Overall vehicle sales rose 34 per cent to 1.12 million.
China has cut retail taxes on vehicles and handed out subsidies in rural areas after auto sales slowed on the global economy and job concerns.
The moves helped General Motors Corp, the largest overseas automaker in China, to boost sales in the country by 34 per cent in the first five months of the year even as plunging US demand forced it into bankruptcy.
'Sales of small cars have been driving growth,' said Ricon Xia, an analyst with Daiwa Institute of Research (Hong Kong) in Shanghai.
'Whether automakers can reverse profit declines this year will depend on demand for big cars and heavy-duty trucks that carry bigger profit margins.'
Combined profit at the country's top 19 automakers fell 28 per cent in the first four months, while revenue declined 11 per cent, according to the association.
During the period, five automakers boosted profit, 10 reported declines and the rest had losses, it added.
SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest domestic automaker and GM's main partner in the country, may boost full-year vehicle sales to two million, chairman Hu Maoyuan said in Shanghai yesterday.
That's an increase of about 9 per cent from last year, based on figures in its annual report.
The company, which also makes cars with Volkswagen AG, boosted sales 26 per cent to more than one million in the first five months.
Industrywide, China vehicle sales rose 14 per cent to 4.96 million units in the first five months.
By contrast, sales in the US fell 37 per cent to 3.95 million.
China's commercial-vehicle sales fell 1.6 per cent in the first five months to 1.3 million, the association said.
Government policies that were introduced to help truckmakers are not sufficient and more measures are needed, it added. -- Bloomberg
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Stimulus driving up China car sales dramatically
May sales soar 47%, the biggest jump since Feb 2006
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</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(BEIJING) China's passenger-vehicle sales rose 47 per cent in May, the biggest jump since February 2006, as tax cuts and government subsidies helped extend the country's lead over the US as the world's biggest auto market this year.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Vehicle boom: Industrywide, China's vehicle sales rose 14 per cent to 4.96 million units in the first five months </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Chinese drivers bought 829,100 cars, sport-utility vehicles and other passenger vehicles last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement yesterday.Overall vehicle sales rose 34 per cent to 1.12 million.
China has cut retail taxes on vehicles and handed out subsidies in rural areas after auto sales slowed on the global economy and job concerns.
The moves helped General Motors Corp, the largest overseas automaker in China, to boost sales in the country by 34 per cent in the first five months of the year even as plunging US demand forced it into bankruptcy.
'Sales of small cars have been driving growth,' said Ricon Xia, an analyst with Daiwa Institute of Research (Hong Kong) in Shanghai.
'Whether automakers can reverse profit declines this year will depend on demand for big cars and heavy-duty trucks that carry bigger profit margins.'
Combined profit at the country's top 19 automakers fell 28 per cent in the first four months, while revenue declined 11 per cent, according to the association.
During the period, five automakers boosted profit, 10 reported declines and the rest had losses, it added.
SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest domestic automaker and GM's main partner in the country, may boost full-year vehicle sales to two million, chairman Hu Maoyuan said in Shanghai yesterday.
That's an increase of about 9 per cent from last year, based on figures in its annual report.
The company, which also makes cars with Volkswagen AG, boosted sales 26 per cent to more than one million in the first five months.
Industrywide, China vehicle sales rose 14 per cent to 4.96 million units in the first five months.
By contrast, sales in the US fell 37 per cent to 3.95 million.
China's commercial-vehicle sales fell 1.6 per cent in the first five months to 1.3 million, the association said.
Government policies that were introduced to help truckmakers are not sufficient and more measures are needed, it added. -- Bloomberg
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