Chinese Car Sales To Double In November
GM China’s sales are on a tear. November sales in China jumped 109.5 percent, Reuters reports, citing a company release. GM and its joint ventures sold 177,339 vehicles in November. As goes GM, so goes the Nation.
The Chinese nation. GM is a very close indicator for overall Chinese sales. In the past months, GM sales have been slightly better than the overall market. This indicates that once China’s overall November numbers are released, we will see the market to nearly double compared to November 2008.
According to the Wall Street Journal, GM’s sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni figures that overall auto sales in China rose 93 percent in November compared with the same period last year. He also figures (official numbers are not out for all markets) that this contrasts with 6.7 percent growth in Western Europe, 5 percent in Latin America and 2.7 percent in the United States. Keep in mind that we are now comparing current sales with weaker and weaker carpocalypse-afflicted months in the prior period. Single digit “growth” simply indicates that the patient has stabilized. Only solid double digit growth, as reported from France, or – odoroita! – Japan can be read as a sign that the patient is recovering.
China is healthier than ever. (Peak oilers and tree huggers may debate that statement.) According to the same WSJ analysis, China now accounts for one quarter of all cars sold worldwide. That is the highest proportion ever seen, and it is bound to grow higher (see below.) Manufacturers who don’t have a solid presence in China are on the endangered species list. China is pretty much the only savior of a beleaguered industry. “Auto makers are scrambling to secure a solid sales source as they contend with a slow economic recovery in the U.S. and a potential nightmare in Europe with the ending of scrappage incentives that artificially spurred consumer buying in countries such as Germany and Italy,” says the WSJ.
If the Chinese numbers come in as expected, more than a million new passenger vehicles have been registered in November. The boom in cars doesn’t prompt the Chinese government to take the foot of the gas. In the contrary. China has plenty of tricks in its bag to make car sales go even faster in 2010, Chang Xiaocun, a bureau director at the Ministry of Commerce official said to Gasgoo.
His ministry is considering schemes to trade in old vehicles for new ones at a discount, subsidized car sales in rural areas and tax breaks for smaller cars. Or all of the above. A continuation of this year’s tax cut is pretty much considered as a given. China’s overall auto sales are projected to reach 13 million units this year, up from 9.38 million units of last year. Sales in the first ten months this year grew 37.8 percent to 10.89 million units.
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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Before you worry about the poor Chinese workers, why not exercise your constitutional power to ask Obama and Co. stop robbing poor Americans and do what he promised (withdraw troops) and hopefully save a few billions. No dice, he's going in a bigger vay. It ain't over yet.
will the Chinese have to buy a new car every 3 years? Is hard to say, whether their cars can last longer than 3 yrs whilst not fare so well during in a crash. Ours mostly last 3 rs until the Warrantee dies. And ours may last much better in a crash.