Chinese car sales NO.1 in the world

According to the latest data from China Automobile Industry Association, the sales volume of domestic vehicles from January to November has been more than 12 million units while total number is 8.6 million over the same period in 2008.

Statistics released yesterday by the joint meeting of the National Passenger Car Market has showed that the sales volume of passenger cars in November is 1.04 million units, another record after September. In the same period, the sale volume of U.S. passenger car market is 9.376 million units from January to November, of which November has contributed a number of 74.5 million units.

Citing an undisclosed source from First Financial Daily the Suspense left in December is not whether China can surpass the United States, but whether the sales volume of China could exceed 13 million.

Dong Yang, executive vice president and secretary general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said previously to CBN that he expected the vehicle sales in China this year would be more than 13 million. Earlier, Chen Hong, president of Shanghai Automotive Group also predicted to CBN the domestic vehicle sales would exceed the number of 13.4 million units the whole year.

The most optimistic estimates of U.S. vehicle sales come from Mike DiGiovanni, chief analyst of GM. He told local media that according to the sales volume of U.S. in November, the total number of the whole year may probably reach more than 10.8 million units. Presently the economy is slowly recovering from recession. The declination of manufacturers, including GM, is being narrowed down.

However, concerning to the average sales price, the increasing sales figures do not mean the domestic consumers are provided with more cheap cars. Yesterday, Zhu Liang, Deputy General Manager of the Longcheng Huangqing Enterprise Management Consulting Company showed the terminal prices of all types of models in the market in November through a set of data, among which A00 (mini-cars), A-Class cars are very popular in the market that the prices even have been raised.

In accordance with the statistics of Longcheng, the sales of all models have been up and down. Though the end of the year is coming close and the sales have been substantially increasing, the prices are kept stable. However, in United States, major vehicle enterprises have formally started their sales promotion, taking the opportunity of the coming of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

According to the data collected by CBN, at all levels, the sales prices of the same models in U.S. market, sales prices are cheaper than those in the domestic market. Take Camry for example, the 2.4L Elite model is sold at 149,000 Yuan while in Chinese market 199, 800 Yuan.

If a triple sales volume of Camry in local United States is due to its relatively cheap prices when compared with that of China, then 696,000 Yuan, the sales price of Audi A6 in domestic market is rather alarmingly high while it is only cost 348,000 Yuan in the US market. Audi even has not realized the localization of production in US while China has been the largest market of Audi from 2008. Not to mention that a second plant was being built then.

According to statistics of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to September in 2009, the revenues of 19 key enterprises have reached 1.0476 trillion Yuan, with a growth amount of 134.735 billion Yuan and a growth rate of 14.76% which is 13.81% higher than the first half of this year. What is more, 4 among these 19 enterprises have a higher income than last year over the same period.

Conclusively, ordinary people do not share the benefits though auto market is developing increasingly.

　　A comparison of classic models’sales prices of in US and China

　　model                    price in US                 price in China

　　Spark                                                4.28

　　Lova1.4MT                8.18                        8.19

　　Yuedong 1.8AT            9.5                         12.98

　　Camry 2.4LElite edition  14.9                        19.98

　　Audi A6 3.0T             34.8                        69.6

　　Odyssey 2.4              18.3                        28.28

　　CRV2.4 deluxe edition    14.7                        23.98

　　BMW 7 Series 760i        92.8                        251.8

　　Mercedes-Benz S600       102.2                       259.8

　　LaCrosse top edition     21                          31.99

　　Unit: ten thousands Yuan

　　Note: Some models have slight differences on configuration.(Translator: Yalong/ Jessie)

　　See original Chinese report Please click