China's Auto Industry Runs BetterChina's auto industry performed better during the first half of this year than during the previous year.According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, approximately 1.02 million units were produced during the first six months of the year, up 14.8 per cent over the same period of last year. Auto sales increased by 17.2 per cent to 990,300 units during the period, statistics indicated. The top five auto makers were the Changchun-based First Automotive Works (FAW) in Northeast China's Jilin Province, the Changan Automotive Corp in West China's Chongqing Municipality, Shanghai Volkswagen Automobile Co Ltd, Dongfeng Motor (Group) Corp in Central China's Hubei Province and Harbin Hafei Motor Co Ltd in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Zhang Shulin, the association's secretary-general, said passenger carriages, instead of sedans, were the biggest driving force of the auto industry's growth. About 349,900 passenger carriages were manufactured during the first half of the year, an increase of 49.3 per cent from the same period last year. Sales of passenger carriages surged by 52.5 per cent to 337,200 units. But sedan output and sales, originally expected to be a main growth engine of the industry, remained in low gear, Zhang said. Statistics indicated sedan output increased by 5.8 per cent to 280,5209 units during the first six months. Sales of 272,465 units were reported, an increase of only 4.76 per cent over last year. Shanghai Volkswagen, which is a 50-50 joint venture between the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and Volkswagen, and Tianjin Automotive Industry Co Ltd experienced a decrease in sedan sales from January to June because of the declining market demand for their older model Xialis and Santanas. The Tianjin company's sales dropped by more than 26.4 per cent during the period. With a sedan price cut expected after the country joins the World Trade Organization, many consumers, especially private buyers, are holding off on buying sedans, which is a major factor impeding the domestic demand for sedans, industrial analysts say. The auto consumption environment in the country also must be improved to boost sedan sales, Zhang said. Zhang estimated total auto output this year will be about 2 million units, compared with more than 1.8 million in 1999. During the first half of the year, the demand for trucks was low partly because of some local governments' arbitrary restrictions against trucks using diesel engines. According to the statistics, truck sales increased by 4.6 per cent during the period. Sales of the mid-sized trucks decreased by more than 5.8 per cent. Local authorities, such as Beijing, Lanzhou in Northeast China's Gansu Province and Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province, have banned the sale and use of diesel trucks in their urban areas to alleviate air pollution. |
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