China In May 2013: Solid Growth

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The Chinese car market keeps plodding along. Total vehicle sales were 1,761,500 in May, up 9.81 percent. Passenger car sales were up 9.04 percent to 1,419,700 units. Commercial sales were up 12.88 percent to 364,600 units , the Chinese auto manufacturer association CAAM says.


For the first five months total vehicle sales stand at 9,028,100 units, up 12.56 percent. Passenger vehicle sales are up 14.73 percent to 7,261,600 units January through May, commercial vehicle sales increased 4.45 percent to 1.7665 million. The latter is a positive sign, and commercial vehicle heavy GM will read the tea leaves with optimism.

The CAAM thinks that based on the current trends, China’s automobile production and sales should be over 10 million in the first six months, and therefore on its way to finally pierce the 20 million mark when the year ends.

January-May, exports from China were 402,300 units, up 5.3 percent.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Jun 11, 2013

    Is China's car infrastructure growing at the same pace as car sales? By this I mean roads, traffic management (lights, signage, etc), gas stations, service centers, tow trucks, parking facilities, car washes, junkyards, etc. If not, it seems that shoving 20 million cars a year into an under-developing infrastructure will create serious problems in short order.

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