China may have the world’s most people, but that does not necessary mean that it will eventually also have the world’s most cars.
Sales growth of new cars in China is expected to fall below initial industry expectations.
“I am concerned about whether our growth rate is too low,” Dong said Dong Yang, vice chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers at a briefing in Beijing recently “Some automakers’ profitability may be undermined this year and some may even face difficulties in their operations.”
The manufacturers group now expects that automotive sales automotive growth in China this year will be between 10 and 15 percent below their initial projections.
GM sold 233,014 vehicles in China last month, while Ford sold 53,440 units in March which was a 20 percent increase.
According to Bloomberg News:
“The overall vehicle sales growth in March was below our expectations,” Zhu Yiping, the association’s statistics head, said at the briefing in Beijing. March has historically been a peak period for car sales in China following the week-long Chinese New Year holiday that was celebrated this year from Feb. 2 through Feb. 8, according to the association.
Total vehicle sales gained 5.4 percent in March to 1.8 million units, the auto group said. Vehicle sales for the first quarter increased 8.1 percent to 5 million units.
Passenger car sales during the first quarter rose 9.1 percent to 3.8 million units, according to the association.”
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