Producers' body says mainland market remains 'sustained, vast'
The nation's vehicle industry achieved double-digit month-on-month gains in output and sales in September, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a report on Tuesday. Experts said the rise was in part due to the sector's peak season.
On an annual basis, the figures were, however, less impressive. The CAAM said that production was down year-on-year, although sales were slightly higher.
The CAAM report showed output in the first nine months of 2015 declined 0.82 percent, while sales edged up 0.31 percent on a year-on-year basis.
Close to 1.9 million vehicles were produced in the Chinese mainland last month, up 20.63 percent from August but down 5.64 percent from a year earlier, and more than 2 million vehicles were sold, up 21.6 percent from August and up 2.08 percent from a year earlier, the report said.
Production of passenger vehicles last month went up 20.75 percent from August but slid 6.03 percent year-on-year. Sales of passenger vehicles rose 23.41 percent from a month earlier and 3.26 percent year-on-year, according to the report.
Dong Yang, CAMM executive vice president, said at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday that the numbers showed there is a sustained vast market for cars in China, even though economic growth has continued to slow.
Experts attributed the growth of sales last month to the peak season for the car industry, which is September and October.
Zhang Yu, managing director of Shanghai-based Automotive Foresight Co, said September to October is a peak period for car sales and that might have helped to support the numbers.
In September, students head back to school and people plan to travel during the National Day holidays in October, so they tend to buy cars for those occasions, Zhang told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Shi Jie, editor-in-chief of industry information portal auto.gasgoo.com, agreed that the rise in car sales last month reflected seasonal factors. But car sales for 2015 should be only flat or slightly higher than a year earlier, Shi told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The CAAM on Tuesday forecast 3 percent growth for 2015, saying September's numbers and a tax cut for smaller cars are encouraging signs for the industry.
On September 30, the government cut the sales tax by 50 percent on cars with engines of less than 1.6 liters, effective October 1. Experts said the impact on sales would be minimal.
Shi said the tax cut might encourage people to buy smaller cars but won't have a huge impact on overall sales.
Dong said the impact was still unclear.
Wu Song, general manager of Guangzhou Automobile Group, which has partnerships with Japan's Honda Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Motor Corp, said the government should take further measures to help the auto industry, especially Chinese producers.
