Imports of vehicles likely to climb 20%
- Source: Shanghai Daily
- [08:30 February 03 2010]
- Comments
Imports of vehicles into China are expected to climb 20 percent to 420,000 units this year, an industry insider has said.
Auto imports began to rebound in the second half of last year, thanks to a recovering Chinese economy and higher demand in second and third-tier cities, said Ding Hongxiang, chairman of China Automobile Trading Co.
"We have seen notable sales growth in Shaanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia," Ding said. "The rising economic strength in smaller cities have generated consumption power, which will bring significant growth to the overall imported vehicle market."
After maintaining a sales increase of more than 40 percent since 2006, last year's growth in China's imported auto sales slowed to 31 percent on an annual basis for a total of 353,000 units. Imports at customs rose only 2.8 percent to 419,000 units last year.
This was due to combination of the global financial crisis and a higher consumption tax on imported cars with engine capacity larger than 3.0 liters.
The Chinese government's stimulus measures also failed to support the imported cars segment.
Of the sectors, sport-utility vehicles contributed the most to the growth. Last year, SUV imports rose 37 percent and accounted for 54.8 percent of the total imported vehicles.
"Although car makers increased local production, imported vehicles are still attractive to consumers for its individual features," Ding said.
"I expect the demand in big cities will also recover, and car makers will place more attention on vehicles with mid-size engine capacity this year," Ding noted.
Last year, imported vehicles sold in second and third-tier cities took up 53 percent of the total. Car makers, including Ferrari and Porsche, have accelerated new product launches.
