Slower growth for China’s auto market but demand for SUVs rockets
China’s auto market is expected to grow 3% this year, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
In July, total sales of Chinese brand passenger cars reached 499,200 units, up 5.1% year on year, accounting for 39% of the total sales of passenger cars.
For the first seven months, the accumulated sales of Chinese brand passenger cars reached 4.7 million units, 40% of total sales, and up 13.6% year on year.
There has been a large growth in sales of Chinese sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs). Sales reached 1.6 million units and 990,200 units respectively, up 87.1% and 16.3% year on year. Their market shares were 52.9% and 87.7% respectively.
In 2014, China had just under 80 passenger vehicles per 1,000 people, according to estimates by The Economist intelligence Unit, compared nearly 370 vehicles per 1,000 people in the US and over 540 per 1,000 people in Germany.
