Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

China H1 auto output, sales break 5-million unit mark

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-10 15:46

China's auto output and sales both broke the five-million unit mark in the first half of the year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Thursday.

Output reached nearly 5.2 million units in the first half, an increase of 16.7 percent over the same period last year. While sales of domestically-made automobiles stood at 5.18 million units, up 18.5 percent over last year's figure, said the association.

In breakdown, the country churned out some 3.65 million passenger vehicles in the January-June period, a year-on-year growth of nearly 16 percent. While a total of 3.6 million passenger vehicles was sold in the first half, up 17 percent.

In the same period, Chinese carmakers produced about 1.55 million units of commercial vehicles, a rise of 18.5 percent year on year. While around 1.57 million commercial vehicles were sold in the country, soaring nearly 22 percent above last year's figure.

The top-10 domestic carmakers sold 4.35 million vehicles in the first six months, or 84 percent of the total auto sales. They were Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), First Automobile Works (FAW), Dongfeng Motors, Chang'an Motors, Beijing Automobile Works, Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, Chery Automobile, Jianghuai Automobile Group, Hafei Auto and Brilliance Automotive.

Earlier, vice chairman of the association, Dong Yang, had said China's domestic auto sales was expected to rise 15 percent to hit 10 million units this year.

China's fast-growing economy created sound environment for the development of the automobile industry, Dong said.