Dawning Of A New Age? China Outperforms US Auto Market For Second Month In A Row

After overtaking the United States in January auto sales for the first time, China extended its lead as the world's largest auto market in the second straight month this year, xinhuanet.com said today.

In February, China sold a total of 827,600 vehicles, up 24.72% year on year (y/y) and up 12.43% month on month (m/m), according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Vehicle output increased 23.08% y/y to 807,900 units. Passenger car sales in February rose 24.23% from a year earlier to 607,300 units, the CAAM said.

Last month, the auto sales in the United States stood at 689,000 units, down 41.3% from a year earlier, the biggest fall in six months, according to industry tracker Autodata. That means China exceeded the U.S. again to be the world's largest auto market in February.

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inspirion7 - 3/16/2009 11:26:39 AM

+1 Boost

Gm wish it could also have the lead sales in the US. China's best-selling automakers are GM and Germany's Volkswagen AG but its own ambitious producers, such as Chery Automobile Co., are growing fast.

General Motors says it sold a record 1.09 million vehicles in China, up 6 per cent from 2008.
Trucks and buses make up a larger share of China's sales than those of the United States or Japan. Some observers say that makes direct comparisons misleading. But many rural Chinese use such commercial vehicles for everyday family use.

TexLandRover - 3/16/2009 9:43:42 PM

+1 Boost

I thought I read that the Chinese Govt was subsidizing rather heavily the purchase of vehicles ... I don't have the exact amount, but it was significant. I think that is why we are seeing the sales "surge". Also, China tends to keep their gasoline prices in "control" ... if you let the market dictate gasoline prices, China is in deep S**T. So its sort of artificial to look at the numbers without all the details.

dotuno - 3/16/2009 10:57:56 PM

+1 Boost

@ huu76,

If people can no longer shop at the lowest denominator (Wal-Mart), are they not then doomed to starvation? You cannot wish for a failure of economic system just to teach a company or government a lesson.

Besides, while Wal-Mart definitely has a lot of questionable/deplorable policies, they still offer an inexpensive option for low income earners (and are one of the few companies that are actually hiring/expanding right now). Low quality, foreign-produced merchandise, sadly, but imagine if Neiman-Markup and the likes were the only option.

In the end, all these companies are greed-driven; for Wal-Mart, it is in low cost (and hence, quality) of production, for higer end stores, it is marked-up sales price. In the reality of society as it is (not as it should be), the inexpensive option is all that many can afford.

But the bottom line remains: unchecked capitalism is as destructive as communism.