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.