Car sales and production in China both exceeded 12 million units between January and November, The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has said. Sales and output are expected to reach over 13 million units for the full year and this will be the first time that China has ever produced more than 10 million cars in one year. Only the US and Japan had previously produced more cars in a single year and domestic Chinese car sales overtook those in the US for the first time in December of last year.
Despite the global downturn and falling sales affecting most global carmakers, the demand for cars in China sees no sign of diminishing and this added to state incentives such as tax cuts on small cars and continuing economic stimulus from the government has led to the automotive boom.
According to preliminary figures sales in November alone reached 1.35 million units.
China’s principal carmaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry, sold 2.44 million cars in the year to the end of November, a rise of more than 50% compared with the same period last year.
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