China In February 2011: Vehicle Sales Up 4.57 Percent

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In a press conference in the late Chinese afternoon, China’s CAAM announced its official February sales numbers. The Middle Kingdom kept face and avoided a loss.

China’s vehicle sales rose 4.57 percent in February from a year earlier to 1.26 million units.

Passenger vehicle sales rose 2.57 percent to 967,200 units . This contradicts a previous release by the China Passenger Car Association that had the passenger vehicle market decline by 0.4 percent to 880,027 in February.

Confusing and contradicting stats are par for the course in China. It seems like the China Passenger Car Association does not count SUVs. If you want to be really shocked and confused, read China’s state-owned newswire Xinhua. They headline: “China’s February auto sales down 33 percent.” Compared to January. Same month comparisons are withheld.

According to the CAAM, total vehicle sales in China rose 9.71 percent during the January-February period to 3.16 million units. Passenger vehicle sales (as defined by the CAAM) totaled 2.5 million units in the first two months of the year, up 10.5 percent. Looking at two months instead of one gives a better picture at the beginning of the year. The lunar calendar favored January this year and penalized February.

Industry observers maintain that the Chinese market will grow between 10 and 15 percent this year.

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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  • MarkMQD MarkMQD on Mar 09, 2011

    That picture made me laugh... It is incredible at how in the current economical climate, sales of motor vehicles are still rising?! It makes no much sense in my mind, you either have the money to spend or you don't?

  • Matt Gasnier Matt Gasnier on Mar 11, 2011

    Thanks Bertel! If anyone is interested the Top 150 best selling models have been released too, you can check it out here. The Chevrolet Cruze delivers an outstanding 2nd place, its best ever in the country and only 1,302 sales behind the leader the VW Lavida...

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