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China auto industry on overdrive
China becomes world's no. 2 auto
market.
BY A CORRESPONDENT
January 11, 2006
New affluent drivers have taken
China by storm, it seems. Result: The
Communist nation has leapt beyond
Japan to become the world's No. 2
vehicle market after the United States
in year 2006.
According to statistics, an addition
in auto enthusiasts has helped China’s
car mart jump 37 percent. The
development has also highlighted
China's lightning evolution from a
bicycle kingdom into a major auto
market. The nation’s streets are being
bombarded by foreign producers with
cars that target a growing urban
middle
class.
Even Amercan giants like General
Motors and Ford are happy that they
moved to double-digit sales growth.
Besides, smaller Chinese manufacturers
are starting to export their own cars,
trucks and SUVs.
Analysts say China today has the money
to be spend on cars. And with the
government too openly declaring that
the nation is on path toward a car
culture and a car industry, its time
to celebrate for the car makers.
China's overall vehicle sales,
including trucks and buses, rose 25.1
percent to 7.2 million units last
year, said industry statistics.
Passenger car sales rose to 3.8
million. Meanwhile, rival Japan's
total vehicle sales last year came to
5.7 million units, a slight decline
from 2005. The Chinese car boom is
driven by economic growth that is
estimated to have reached 10.5 percent
last year.
The officially endorsed car culture
has changed the Chinese landscape
almost overnight, with ancient city
centers bulldozed to make way for
broad avenues and the government
spending heavily to build a nationwide
highway network. Fast food restaurants
are opening drive-through windows.
China's automakers exported about
325,000 vehicles last year, about 80
percent of them low-priced trucks and
buses bound for developing markets in
Asia, Africa and Latin America
Meanwhile, there also reports that car
buying spree has taken a toll in
congestion. China houses most of the
world's 10 dirtiest cities, and air
quality is worsening as car exhaust
increases.
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