« Monsanto and Evogene Collaborate on Yield and Stress Research | Main | Nordic Mining and StatoilHydro Partner on Technology for CO2 Capture in Minerals »
Growth In China Passenger Vehicle Market Slows in First Half of 2008
1 September 2008
The China passenger vehicle market began to slow during the first half of 2008 after more than 5 years of about 20% growth, according to a report by Beijing Polk-CATARC. Total passenger vehicle registrations reached 3.4 million in the first two quarters, a year-on-year growth of 14.7%. All body types saw lower than usual increases except SUVs, which maintained a 42.4% growth rate.
 |
| China personal vehicle registation volume and year-on-year growth by body type. Click to enlarge. Source: Polk |
Sedans and MPVs reached 14.7% and 16.3% year-on-year growth respectively, while hatchbacks still lagged behind others with 8.8% growth.
The top auto market provinces—Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu—all experienced less than 10% growth in the first half of 2008, especially Zhejiang which managed only a 1.3% increase. Other provinces in mainland China continued to show comparatively buoyant growth, according to Polk, with half of those provinces seeing more than 20% growth in the first half year, with Anhui in the lead with nearly 50% growth.
The depression in the local PV market of the top provinces can be seen as a reflection of the larger difficulties they faced economically in the first half of 2008. According to the Department of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises of National Development and Reform Commission, nearly 67,000 small and medium-sized enterprises closed down during the first half of this year. Most of these enterprises were export-oriented, located in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong. Three causes of these enterprises’ hardships can be identified: the continuing inflation of raw material prices, RMB appreciation and tighter currency policy in mainland China.
Passenger cars account for nearly 70% of the total personal vehicle market in China. The medium segment in the passenger car market has seen steady growth during recent years, with its market share increasing to 46.6% in the first half of the year from 40.1% in 2004.
The increasing domination of the medium-sized car has also been reflected in the changes in the top 10 model list. In 2005, 3 small car models and 1 mini car model still claimed a place in the list, while none of these smaller models were found amongst the top 10 in the first half of this year. By comparison, medium-sized models occupied 8 of these positions.
Noting that the problems causing the slowdown are unlikely to be solved soon, Polk forecasts a “bleak” registration outlook for the second half of the year, with total registration volume likely to reach 6.5 million units by the end of 2008, representing year-on-year growth of 12%.
September 1, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22062/32953520
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Growth In China Passenger Vehicle Market Slows in First Half of 2008:
Comments
the indian market is on a un upswing, inspite of the fact that the nano project had to be relocated. the indian car market is on a great clim. the robust econmoy has led to this increase
Posted by: led | Oct 7, 2008 10:42:09 AM
the indian market is on a un upswing, inspite of the fact that the nano project had to be relocated. the indian car market is on a great clim. the robust econmoy has led to this increase
Posted by: led | Oct 7, 2008 10:42:14 AM
