The Chinese haven't gotten bored with cars, but the era of the car boom is over. China's auto sales grew 12,5 percent in April, compared with the same month in 2011, to 1,28 million vehicles. Yet the figure shows a slight decline from the 1,4 million cars sold in March (-8,9% on a quarterly basis). The data was released by the semi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
In all of 2011, the overall vehicle market in China grew by 5,2% to 1,62 million units, a sharp slowdown compared to +33% in 2010 and +53% in 2009. This slowdown can be attributed to several factors, from the end of small-car tax schemes to efforts by authorities to restrict driving licenses to combat congestion in big cities.
Ford – Ford plans to introduce 15 new vehicles in China by 2015. Ford expects new car sales to rise 5 percent this year and reach 30 million in 2020. Ford sales in April in China they increased by 24% to 54.881 vehicles.
Toyota – The Japanese company increased its sales in China by 68% in April with the registration of over 81 vehicles. In the first three months of 2010 the increase in sales was 14,3%. For 2012, the group expects to sell 1 million vehicles.
bmw – The German group also owes a lot to the Chinese market. The first quarter earnings were driven by sales in the Asian giant, which grew by 37%
