China overtakes US as world’s largest car market
China overtook the United States as the world's largest car market in 2009, selling close to 13.6 million vehicles against the US's 10.4 million.
In fact, China and India were the only two countries in the world to see an overall increase in vehicle sales last year.
According to Autodata Corporation, China's overall car sales increased by 48 per cent in 2009, and in February this year, were up 55 per cent compared to the same time last year. By comparison, the US saw a 13 per cent increase for the same period.
The Chinese car market wasn't hit nearly as hard by the Global Financial Crisis compared to Europe or the US, and thanks in part to the Chinese government's 4 trillion yuan ($AUD627.5 billion) stimulus package, the new car market continues to grow in 2010.
Chinese buyers also took a greater interest in luxury cars than other markets with high-end vehicle sales up 37 per cent in 2009. The figures defying the global trend of a 25-30 per cent decline in the overall number of luxury cars sold last year.
The BMW Group, which includes BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, saw an overall global sales fall of 10 per cent last year, but the group says Chinese sales bucked the trend, up by 37 per cent on the year prior.
This past February, BMW sales into China increased by 96.7 per cent over the same month in 2009. Mercedes-Benz and Audi reported a similar story. February 2010 figures for the pair up 160 per cent and 61.7 per cent respectively compared to the same month last year.
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