China Overtakes Germany, US in '08 Auto Output

Shanghai, April 23, 2009: (Gasgoo.com) German auto industry's latest figures show that China overtook Germany and the U.S. last year to have produced the world's biggest number of automobiles, xinhuanet.com reported today.

China became the world's largest car-producer in 2008, with a world market share of 17.2%, outranking Germany (14.7%) and the US (14.6%), the German association of car manufacturers VDMA revealed earlier this week. China's auto output hit 9.42 million units in 2008, up only 6% year on year, the slowest growth in recent years.

In profit, German companies had an 8% increase, the US a loss of 10%, while Chinese carmakers achieved a 30% rise. The sales slump in the U.S. and Europe also highlights the China market, where new cars sales in March reached a record of 1.11 million units thanks to the government's auto stimulus measures.

Recent car sales in China have been boosted by a slew of incentives introduced since the beginning of this year. Taxes have been halved to 5% for cars with engines of 1.6 liters or less. The Chinese government is also subsidizing the purchase of alternative energy vehicles.

While managing to borrow and assimilate the latest global auto-making technologies and expertise, Chinese carmakers have been speeding up the development and production of their own-brand vehicles to grab more shares of the domestic market from their western partners.

European, American and Japanese auto companies, such as Volkswagen, Peugeot Citroen, General Motors, and Toyota Motor, were still competing very much for a market share in China, although the profit outlook was increasingly shrinking.

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