Auto sales in China, the world’s biggest car market, rebounded last month as subsidies for energy-efficient vehicles and a stronger currency spurred demand, while sales in the US faltered.
Sales rose 55.7 percent over a year earlier to 1.21 million vehicles, up from 1 million vehicles the month before, the Cabinet’s China Automotive Technology and Research Center said on Wednesday.
The increase compared with 17 percent year-on-year growth in July and 19.4 percent in June.
The upbeat news from China contrasted sharply with figures on US auto sales, which had their worst August since 1983. General Motors Co (GM), Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Ford Motor Co all reported declines from the month before and from a year earlier.
Initial data showed US sales last month at about 997,000, down 5 percent from July, according to AutoData Corp.
In China, however, sales of energy-saving vehicles rose 32 percent to 129,600, the Chinese research center said in a report posted on its Web site.
Demand was also relatively strong for imported vehicles, as Japanese and European automakers increasingly focus on serving the market for smaller, affordable cars, center chairman Zhao Hang said, without giving specific figures.
A recent rise in the value of China’s currency has also stimulated sales of imported cars.
“That makes things cheaper,” he said.
In June, China loosened controls that had kept its currency trading at about 6.83 yuan per US dollar for over a year.
The rebound in sales is good news for global automakers looking to China to drive sales amid weak global demand. Sales this year are forecast to grow by no more than 20 percent, well off last year’s stunning 45 percent rise.
GM reported that its sales in China rose 19.2 percent last year from the year before to 181,625 vehicles, with sales for the first eight months of this year reaching 1.5 million units.
In the US, both GM and Ford said sales last month fell 11 percent from the year before, while Toyota saw sales drop 34 percent.
The automotive center, one of several sources of monthly data on Chinese auto sales and production, estimated sales in the first eight months of the year reached 9.5 million vehicles, up almost 32 percent from the same period last year.
Monthly sales growth had waned after March’s 63 percent rise, prompting Beijing in June to renew subsidies of 3,000 yuan per vehicle for fuel-efficient cars and small trucks.
Automakers have nonetheless begun cutting back on output to match slowing demand.
Production rose 10 percent last month to 1.2 million units, down slightly from July, the report said.
Output in the first eight months rose 35.5 percent, to 10.9 million vehicles, it said.
RSS