Vehicle sales still driving fast

Potential buyers look at a car at an auto show in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. In October, more than 1.5 million vehicles were sold in China. [GENG YUHE/CHINA DAILY]

China's passenger vehicle sales continued robust growth in October because of a low base in the corresponding month last year, while Japanese automakers experienced increased growth following a market dive amid the Diaoyu Islands territorial row.

The country delivered 1,516,051 cars, sport-utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and minivans in October, a surge of 21.6 percent over last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association released on Thursday.

However, the October sales figure was 1.1 percent lower than those in September, statistics showed. In the first 10 months, total sales increased 17.4 percent on an annual basis to 13.7 million vehicles.

"The high growth was not unexpected because the market was well on track as in previous Octobers," said Rao Da, secretary-general of the association. "The 21.6 percent year-on-year growth indicated the recovery of Japanese brand vehicles from last year, when they experienced their most serious decline in at least four years because of Chinese patriotic sentiment against Japanese products over the Diaoyu Islands dispute."

According to Rao, Japanese auto brands' sales in China together boomed 82 percent year-on-year in October. Their deliveries to Chinese customers slumped 40.82 percent year-on-year in September 2012.

"They will continue the recovery in the short term and help China's passenger vehicle sales maintain the momentum," said Rao.

He also said that China's recovering economy this year also helped boost local people's confidence in spending.

"There is still potential in the market because the increase in sales this year was only 50 percent of that in 2010," said Rao.

He predicted a slight month-on-month sales increase in November, which was balanced by a traditional increase in individual purchasing of cars at the year's end and a reduction in sales of MPVs as official vehicles because of the Chinese government's appeal for a conservation-oriented society.

Shanghai-based industry research firm IHS Automotive predicted that the passenger vehicle category, including cars, SUVs and MPVs, is expected to grow by 13.5 percent from a year earlier to around 15.4 million units this year while commercial vehicles are expected to rise just 3 percent to 5.1 million.

The forecast is far higher than the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers' prediction of 7 percent and the China Passenger Car Association's 5 percent made at the beginning of the year.

"SUVs will continue to be the major thrust within the passenger vehicle segment with double-digit annual growth," said Namrita Chow, a manager and senior analyst with IHS Automotive.

General Motors Co, the largest foreign automaker in China by sales, said this week that it and its joint ventures sold 282,446 vehicles in China last month, setting a new October record.

Sales were up 12.2 percent on an annual basis as domestic sales by its joint ventures Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling as well as its major brands reached new highs for the month.

Shanghai GM sold 132,954 vehicles in China during October, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent. SAIC-GM-Wuling's domestic sales rose 10.7 percent to 143,693 units. FAW-GM sold 5,407 vehicles in the domestic market, a jump of 27 percent.

Another US automaker, Ford Motor Co, also reported robust sales growth in October, with its sales surging 55 percent year-on-year to 93,969 units last month, while its January-October sales saw an annual growth of 52 percent.