By the beginning of October 2001, China's heavy-duty truck sales has increased by 80% compared to the same period of year 2000. The large bus sales has increased by 55% and that of medium bus by 40%.

New heavy-duty vehicles equipped with bigger but lower emissions engines, more comfortable cab space, more reliable safety systems are replacing the old vehicles very quickly in China. Sales of heavy trucks are soaring as the government is building highways, expanding ports and encouraging the privatization of state-owned businesses. Chinese trucks dominate the market now. China's big three heavy truck makers - FAW, DFM and CNHTC account for 98 percent of the sales. Among these heavyweights, FAW is the leader with 64 percent share of the market.

Two factors are driving exceptionally strong demand for heavy trucks. First, the government is investing heavily in infrastructure, especially new-road construction. In 1995, China had only 2,000 kilometers of superhighways. By the end of year 2000, the total length of superhighways has reached 16,314 kilometers. This year, the government has authorized the construction of over 10,000 kilometers of new highways linking key ports with inland cities. Road construction boosts demand for gravel haulers. Once completed, the roads also enable heavy trucks to haul goods to distant markets.

The second factor, influencing the growing demand for heavy trucks, is the issuing of new regulations to encourage the truck users to protect roads. In the past, the fees were levied based on the vehicles' truck classification - the heavier the truck, the higher the fee, many truck users were overloading their vehicles in order to decrease transportation costs.

From April 1, 2001, the Ministry of Communications issued a new regulation - No.2 Decree to regulate the overloading of vehicles.

More and more transportation companies now prefer heavy-duty vehicles as their working horse. The key truck makers such as FAW and DFM are working very hard to design new heavy-duty trucks in order to meet the market demand. FAW introduced its three 12 ton truck series products and sold 3500 vehicles within 3 months. DFM also introduced its new heavy-duty products to the market and its products supply could not meet the huge market demand. These new products are all equipped with bigger engines with comparatively low emissions and high torque gearboxes.

Chinese truck makers are aware that it will be a very good opportunity for them to introduce cleaner diesel engines to their customers. The key truck makers and some diesel engine suppliers are working aggressively to design Euro 2 diesel engines. Most of them are seeking overseas partner to jointly develop or produce new heavy-duty vehicles. Their goal is to provide cleaner diesels without sacrificing their performance. At the same time, they are considering to provide better transmission and suspension systems, a more reliable braking system and a more comfortable driving environment. All these efforts will speed up the phasing out of old diesel technologies and the introducing of cleaner and better performance diesel engines.

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