Chinese Automotive Industries Sales of 2014 and 2015, Optimism!

2015 CAAM Market Annual Meeting and After-Market Development Summit Held in Henan.

               The Chinese auto market has long been known for creating a powerful domestic auto market internally while also maintaining strong connections to foreign brands around the world. Many international brands are represented in the Chinese automobile market and continue to vie for their place in one of the world�s biggest automobile markets.

               In total nearly 23.5 million cars were sold last year in China. This was an increase of nearly 7% from prior years and included trucks, passenger cars and busses. The sale of passenger cars was up with 19.7 million vehicles sold for an overall increase of roughly 10%. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released a report that further detailed the ups and downs of the domestic Chinese market from both the perspectives of foreign and local brands.

               The report noted that while domestic Chinese brands increased sales by 4.1%, the overall market share of those companies decreased by 2.1%. The total market share of domestic Chinese automobile companies is now 38.4%. The Chinese market is expanding to include foreign brands that are increasingly becoming popular in many locations around the world.

               Honda, for instance, has planned to invest nearly 220 million Euros into the Chinese car market by 2015. Their investments into this strong market are expected to continue through 2015. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers estimates an increase in overall automobile sales in the country while delivering 25.1 million units throughout the world. Other automobile manufacturers including Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen had very productive years in Chinese automobile sales in 2014 and predictions seem hopeful for the coming year as well.

Mr. Shi Jianhua, keynote speech entitled on �Analysis and Prediction on Chinese Auto Market in 2015�.

               GM and Volkswagen have both seen their influence in the Chinese market climb, though GM is still on the heels of Volkswagen�s hold on the Chinese market. Volkswagen now exports over 3.5 million vehicles to China and Hong Kong while GM trails just slightly behind them.

               The general economic situation in China is constantly changing, as it is in many other parts of the world, and President Xi Jinping is doing his best to curb the racing economy to a more sustainable pace of growth. Part of this means a slowing of the automobile market, which may seem like a dire warning for some; however, a stabilization of the automobile market in China spells out a more predictable and successful future for the country�s domestic vehicles.

               The slowing of the total number of units sold in China doesn�t mean the companies aren�t making a profit. A Shanghai analyst named Lin Huaibin from the IHS Automotive group stated that the net increase of total vehicle sales will be between 1.5 million and 2 million units in 2015. Auto manufacturers will have the chance to absorb an increase in sales while still preparing for the potential slowdown of the Chinese market in the future.

               Sports Utility Vehicles, busses and transport vehicles also make up a significant portion of domestic and foreign automobile sales in China.