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China passes Japan as No. 2 auto market

6367 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  sir wellington
BY JOE MCDONALD | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING - China surged past Japan last year to become the world's No. 2 vehicle market, behind the United States, as car purchases by newly affluent drivers jumped 37 percent, China's auto industry association said Thursday.

The announcement highlighted China's lightning evolution from a "bicycle kingdom" into a major auto market. Foreign producers are racing to open factories and target a growing urban middle class.

Struggling U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford have gotten a boost from double-digit sales growth in China.


"There's money here and people spend that money on cars," said Michael J. Dunne, vice president for Asia-Pacific for auto research firm J.D. Power and Associates. "The Chinese government has made no secret of its intention to develop a car culture and a car industry. All of the forces are working together."

China's overall vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose 25.1 percent to 7.2 million last year, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said. Passenger car sales rose to 3.8 million, it said.

Japan's total vehicle sales last year came to 5.7 million units, said the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. U.S. sales totaled 16.5 million units, according to research firm Autodata Inc.

The Chinese car boom is driven by economic growth that is estimated to have reached 10.5 percent last year.

The officially endorsed car culture has changed China's landscape almost overnight, with ancient city centers bulldozed to make way for broad avenues and the government spending heavily to build a nationwide highway network. Big cities are ringed by car dealerships.

The car craze has taken a toll in smog and congestion. China has most of the world's 10 dirtiest cities, and air quality is worsening as car exhaust increases. Rush-hour traffic crawls in Beijing, Shanghai and other urban centers.

The top-selling car was the Jetta, made by FAW-Volkswagen Co., a joint venture.


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[B said:
m14]BY JOE MCDONALD | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS[/B]
BEIJING - China surged past Japan last year to become the world's No. 2 vehicle market, behind the United States, as car purchases by newly affluent drivers jumped 37 percent, China's auto industry association said Thursday.
great! in a few years in will overcome japan too in numbers
quantity mabee, how about quality:rolleyes: Japanese buyers will havee have better choice of cars from domestic, european and american manufacturers, whereas chinese will only be driving thier own chinese made cars which have no sense of occasion or that special feeling:confused:
god_bless_japan said:
quantity mabee, how about quality:rolleyes: Japanese buyers will havee have better choice of cars from domestic, european and american manufacturers, whereas chinese will only be driving thier own chinese made cars which have no sense of occasion or that special feeling:confused:
When idiots make comments like this, one has to wonder, do these morons have the ability to think?

Things don't go from 0 to 100 in an instant, it takes time. To assume/insinuate China will stay in the current state forever is of the utmost idiocy. Within 10 years China's auto market will be nearly as sophisticated and complex as other top markets; get ready to eat crow...
With Chinese car market booming and growing rapidly, I fear for out mother earth - the planet we all share already cannot sustain the human population/consumption the way it is today... :(

It's not to say that China should stop her growth, but should grow at a clean and sustainable pace. Other nations around the world should do the same, especially those developed nations - for they have done more than their share of polluting the world on their way up.

US of A, for example, uses 25% of the world's oil, 3 times higher than the next country, China. That's just gluttony, plain and simple.

I say always buy/drive the most fuel efficient, cleanest vehicle that you can, heck, walk, bike, or take a bus. I do NOT like the trend in China of going to bigger and bigger cars. It should go smaller and smaller...
BringIt said:
When idiots make comments like this, one has to wonder, do these morons have the ability to think?

Things don't go from 0 to 100 in an instant, it takes time. To assume/insinuate China will stay in the current state forever is of the utmost idiocy. Within 10 years China's auto market will be nearly as sophisticated and complex as other top markets; get ready to eat crow...
The problem is that China does not have ten years to meet the world standard. The window for entering the world market is closing, and because of the general distrust that has come from the many years of communism, there is almost no way the domestic manufactures can be competitive even in China without some share of the foreign market. To make matters worse, idiots are in charge of the major companies and government affairs, greatly lowering the countries potential to advance.
Are you just making things up or high on weeds? Where's the facts and data to back up your points?

Window to enter world markets is closing? How so? And why?

In the past 2+ decades after China opened up, China has proven over and over again that it can enter and compete in virtually any category. From toys, shoes, and clothing, to computers, electronics, and even launching satellites. China is already a big player in car parts, I don't see anything stopping Chinese cars to be competitive in the future.

While I don't see China overtaking Japan, Germany, and US, but being on par with them in cars is not rocket science - oh yeah, China already tackled that.
god_bless_japan said:
quantity mabee, how about quality:rolleyes: Japanese buyers will havee have better choice of cars from domestic, european and american manufacturers, whereas chinese will only be driving thier own chinese made cars which have no sense of occasion or that special feeling:confused:
well when the chinese are all buying chinese cars, the japanese, germans, and american cars would loose whole wack of sales and probally just bankrupt.
gr8 said:
well when the chinese are all buying chinese cars, the japanese, germans, and american cars would loose whole wack of sales and probally just bankrupt.
yeah right, all these years when china was closed under communism, Japan and europeans cars struggled didnt they??:D Chinese cars are only exported to 3rd world countries, when they try to enter US EU, they do seem to have trouble. Chinese buying chinese cars is a good thing, because if they drive lexus, the chinese will suffer mental depression because they have hands on experience of Japans automative accomplishments:lol:
Nah, Chinese people can now drive a Roewe or Hongqi, and be proud of how far the Chinese car industry has come along in 2 decades. In another 2 decades, rest assured China will not be only competing in 3rd world countries - and there will be something just as good as a Lexus.
god_bless_japan said:
yeah right, all these years when china was closed under communism, Japan and europeans cars struggled didnt they??:D Chinese cars are only exported to 3rd world countries, when they try to enter US EU, they do seem to have trouble. Chinese buying chinese cars is a good thing, because if they drive lexus, the chinese will suffer mental depression because they have hands on experience of Japans automative accomplishments:lol:
underestimation of third world countries will someday lead to the undoing of these great firstworld countries that you have quoted. great american auto manufaturers who are struggling should try to capture the third world market. when the japanese began to make strides in the late 70s early 80s they were given a hard time by america and others. they were embraced by third world countries which saw the end of BMC domination in the caribbean and the advent of the mighty japanese. Look at the japan auto industry today.
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