China’s domestic car industry continues to grow, mostly from demand for passenger cars. From Xinhua:
China’s domestic automobile sales is expected to grow by 15 percent to hit 10 million this year, backed by strong demand for passenger cars, an official with the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Saturday.
China’s fast-growing economy created sound environment for the development of the automobile industry, Dong Yang, vice chairman of the association, said at an industry meeting held in the coastal city of Yantai in the eastern Shandong Province.
Despite of the slowing growth in business vehicles sales, demand for passenger cars remained robust, he said.
Some 8.79 million domestically-made vehicles were sold last year.
Reuters also reports that the rising fuel prices are predicted to have little impact on car sales in the long term.
Automobile makers said on Friday they did not expect any major impact on sales in China after Beijing unexpectedly hiked retail fuel prices by up to 18 percent, its sharpest ever one-off rise.
“Current fuel prices are not the decisive factor in buying cars,” said an official at Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile, who requested anonymity because she was not authorised to speak to the media.
People depend on cars for their business and families, and those outweigh the added cost of fuel, she said.
