China's vehicle sales propel 32% to record 18m last year

RIO DE JANEIRO - Vehicle production in Brazil reached a record-high 3.35 million units in the first 11 months of 2010, up 14.6 percent from the same period last year, the National Automakers' Association (Anfavea) said Monday

Automakers benefit as domestic sales soar

BEIJING - Automobile manufacturers continued to benefit from brisk domestic sales in November, as General Motors (GM) led the industry in releasing higher figures on Thursday.

GM, which recovered from last year's bankruptcy protection crisis thanks, in part, to its prosperous business in China, reported a November sales record of 196,990 units, with an 11.2 percent rise on an annual basis, supported by an all-time record monthly demand for vehicles in its Buick and Chevrolet brands.

For the first 11 months, sales by GM and its joint ventures in China were up 32.7 percent year-on-year to 2,172,395 units.

Beijing to offer electric, hybrid car subsidy

Beijing will promote the use of 30,000 electric and hybrid cars, build 100 recharging stations and provide 36,000 rechargers by the end of 2012, People's Daily reported Monday, citing the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

Hyundai Motor begins to build third China plant

South Korean auto maker Hyundai Motor on Sunday started building its third China plant in Beijing, intended to meet rising demand after the firm's two existing Beijing plants exceeded their production capacity this year.

New car numbers surge in Beijing last week

Beijing saw 18,000 new cars, or about 2,571 per day, on roads in the past week, said sources with Beijing Traffic Management Bureau Wednesday.

The increase was nearly 50 percent higher than the daily average of 1,900 new cars on the roads for the first three quarters of the year.

Aside from the sharp rise in cars on the roads, about 10,000 people obtained driving licenses last week, according to the sources.

By Nov. 21, there were 4.67 million cars and 6.197 million people with driving license in Beijing. The bureau predicted that, by the end of this year, the total amount of cars in Beijing would reach 5 million.

"Taxes soon to be increased on large cars and the rumor that Beijing might increase the license fee for cars in 2011 resulted in more new cars purchased," said Guo Yong of Beijing Asian Games Village Auto Market, one of the largest auto sellers in Beijing.

China's top legislature last month released a draft law on vehicle and vessel taxation. The draft law reduces taxes on energy-saving and clean energy-powered vehicles and increases taxes on large cars.

Beijing is among the most congested cities in the world. It has moved to ease congestion by implementing measures such as odd-even number traffic controls, the introduction of staggered working hours and increased parking fees in downtown areas.

BMW: China certain to be top market

BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- BMW forecast last week that China will become its top market in the next decade at the same time competition sharply escalates.

"In the next five to 10 years, China will be the biggest market for all brands and become a big area of competition," said Christoph Stark, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China.

Stark made the remarks in the capital of the Tibet autonomous region, where the company organized a brand experience event for its flagship 7 Series saloon.

The German luxury automaker sold nearly 122,000 cars on the Chinese mainland in the first nine months this year, almost doubling the figure in the same period last year.

China auto sales up 34.76% in first 10 months, exceeding last year's total

Auto sales in China grew 34.76 percent from a year earlier to 14.68 million units in the first 10 months of the year, exceeding the total number of vehicles sold last year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tuesday. 

Source:Xinhua

Michelin Q3 sales rise 23.8 pct to 4.648 billion euros

PARIS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - French tyre maker Michelin (MICP.PA) confirmed its full-year targets with confidence on Tuesday, saying growth was faster than it expected at the start of 2010 in all tyre markets in the first nine months.

Michelin said the North American and European tyre markets -- especiallyRussia -- were recovering after the auto industry crisis, while the Chinese market was growing strongly thanks to government incentives.

Cup and Handle Formation

TIANJIN - China has become Volvo's third largest market, with more of its car models to go on sale in the world's largest auto market this year, Chief Executive Office (CEO) of Volvo Cars China said in Tianjin.

Conti AG to invest more than 500 mln eur in tyres

Oct 23 (Reuters) - German automotive supplier Continental AG (CONG.DE) plans to invest significantly more than 500 million euros ($695.7 million) in new tyre plants, the company's chief executive was quoted as saying.

"We should have invested more in tyres in the past five years, we are catching up on that now," Elmar Degenhart told German weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, according to an excerpt of an interview to be published on Sunday.

"We are doubling capacity in Brazil, and China is starting up next year. We are also discussing a cooperation in India and are considering our own production in Russia."

The newspaper did not say over what period Conti planned to make the investment.

Degenhart also made optimistic comments about the company's 2010 outlook, according to the newspaper. It raised its top-line outlook in July, saying it sees full-year sales growing by about 15 percent.

"That figure is certainly conservative," the paper cited Degenhart as saying. Conti is due to report third-quarter financial results on Nov. 3. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Patrick Graham)

Bridgestone tyres sets ambitious earnings goal

Bridgestone tyres is forecasting a massive growth in sales thanks to an increase in demand from developing countries across the globe.

The Japanese tyres manufacturer claims that it may see sales increase to $43 billion by 2012 thanks to demand growth in China, India and Brazil.

Such a dramatic rise in sales could result in an operating profit of $3.44 billion in 2012, up 8% from its anticipated 2010 profit line, according to Bridgestone.

The company told analysts that it expects it tyre sales to grow 40% by 2015 from 2009, while industry-wide demand is expected to increase 15%.

It forecasts tyre sales in China to rise 140% from 2009 results by 2015, and by 80% in India and 60% in Brazil.

The tyre manufacturer also announced it will spend $296 million to boost capacity for giant OTR tires. The expansion projects at its Japanese plants in Fukuoka and Saga are scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2013.

The capacity increase will boost output at the Fukuoka plant to 130 tons from 30 tons currently.

In addition, Bridgestone is spending 2 billion yen to expand capacity at its steel cord plant in Japan

China: Auto parts makers H1 net profit margin higher than automakers

More than 60 Shanghai-, Shenzhen- and Hong Kong-listed auto parts companies in China announced Thursday their half-year financial results which showed that the average net profit margin of all the listed Chinese auto parts makers increased to about 7% in the first six months of this year, the Beijing Times reported Friday.

According to statistics from Gasgoo.com, 23 major auto-making companies in China reported average net profit margin of 5.46% in the first half, losing to the domestic auto parts companies.

An industry analyst said due to vehicles in short supply in the first half, China's auto parts suppliers speeded up the pace that in the meanwhile led prices to rise on auto parts.

Latest Pirelli Figures Show Tyre Market Was Strong in 3Q 2010

Pirelli’s latest “Tyre Market Watch” figures show that first half 2010 passenger car tyre volumes increased by approximately 20 per cent. Third quarter volumes are said to have remained strongly in the double digit growth range, but moving at roughly half the pace of the first half at +10 per cent. Truck tyre volumes were said to have been much stronger growing at +20 per cent and +25 per cent respectively

China's auto industry not overheated, analysts say

SHIYAN, Hubei - China's automotive industry is not overheated despite its continued fast growth, an industry analyst said Sunday, amid recent concerns that overcapacity problems loom in the world's largest auto market.

"In the Jan-Sept period, China's auto industry saw its growth pace returning to rationality, which indicated the industry had entered into a stable, healthy and normal state," said Dong Yang, vice president of the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM).

Dong was attending a ceremony in Shiyan city in the central province of Hubei, where Dongfeng Motor's commercial vehicles division is located.

Auto production in China was up 70 to 80 percent in January and February from one year earlier. But growth slowed to 22 percent in June, and to between 14 percent and 17 percent in the third quarter, which Dong said was a "very sensible" speed.

"Economists agree that China's auto industry had better expand one and a half times faster than its gross domestic production," he added. "The auto industry must maintain a double-digit growth to keep China's economy running in a sustainable way as the government continues its industrial restructuring effort and encourages people to spend money."

Analysts forecast that auto sales in the world's second-largest economy will surge 25 percent to 17 million units for the full year, providing a striking contrast to automakers fighting flat or slackening sales in the United States and other mature markets.

China became the world's No 1 auto market last year, with sales topping 13 million vehicles. The market continued expanding rapidly as sales in the first nine months of this year climbed 36 percent compared to last year's level.
Meanwhile, global automakers are still developing massive expansion plans in the country, hoping the booming market will offset sales slumps elsewhere in the world.

All this gives fresh ammunition to critics who question whether the big market demand in China will last, with some scholars comparing the market boom to the baby boom in the 1950s and 1960s that left many trapped in cycles of poverty.

"China's public transportation system is witnessing rapid development and autos are durable consumer goods. Once people' enthusiasm towards cars cools down, the overcapacity issue will emerge," warned Ge Baoshan, a professor of economics at northeast China's Jilin University.

"As China's economy expands, more people are expecting to have their own cars," Dong argued. "You can't impose restrictions on the auto industry just because mega-cities like Beijing and Shanghai are plagued with traffic jams."

"As big cities are promoting public transportation to get people out of private cars, the automakers will have to penetrate into second and third tier cities in the country's vast west where more vehicles are still needed to improve transport."

Xu Changming, a researcher at the State Information Center, also believes it is unnecessary to worry about the alleged overcapacity. He said the capacity utilization of China's auto industry was roughly 120 percent in 2009.

"Modern enterprises, especially privately-owned ones such as BYD and Geely, are sensitive to the market and can make market-oriented plans for production, " he said.

(Xinhua)

China auto sales growth slows

AP

China's auto sales slowed further in September as a boom fuelled by tax breaks and subsidies faded.

Official figures for the month, delayed by a weeklong national holiday, showed total sales rising 17 per cent from a year earlier to 1.56 million vehicles, down from 18 per cent in August, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported on Tuesday.

Sales rose 16 per cent in July and 21 per cent in June, but have generally slowed since spring.

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Passenger car sales rose 19.3 per cent to 1.2 million vehicles, the group said on its website.

"Growth in China's auto market seems to be back to normal after the boom," said Wei Chenggang, an analyst at Shanghai Securities, in Shanghai, forecasting further slowing in months to come.

"This might be bad for automakers in the short term, but is definitely better for the sustainable development of the industry," he said.

China became the world's largest auto market in 2009 when sales surged 45 per cent to 13.6 million vehicles.

Analysts are forecasting that sales may climb roughly 30 per cent to about 17 million vehicles for the year, providing a respite for automakers still fighting flat or weakening sales in the US and other more mature markets.

In January-September, China's total vehicle sales rose 36 per cent to 13.1 million units, while passenger car sales climbed 37 per cent, to 9.9 million vehicles, after rising nearly 40 per cent in the first eight months of the year, the industry group reported.

Figures from several foreign and domestic automakers also showed growth in sales easing.

GM said its sales rose 15 per cent to 208,353 vehicles in September, slowing from 19 per cent in August and 22 per cent in July. GM's total sales in China climbed 37.4 per cent in January to September from a year earlier, to a record 1.78 million vehicles, the company said.

Back in the US GM's sales slipped slightly in September from August as shoppers wary of spending on big ticket items steered clear of showrooms. They were up 10.5 per cent from a year earlier, when sales slumped following the end of the Cash for Clunkers program.

Ford Motor China said its sales rose 26 per cent in September from a year earlier, to 50,970 vehicles, up slightly from a 24 per cent increase the month before. Sales in the first nine months of the year were up 40 per cent at 419,073 units.

Japan's Honda Motor saw sales inch up three per cent in September from a year earlier, while sales for the year climbed a modest 16 per cent.

GM partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, or SAIC, said sales of their Shanghai GM joint venture surged 41 per cent year-on-year, while SAIC's overall sales grew 23 per cent in September, up from 22 per cent in August.

SAIC VW, its venture with Germany's Volkswagen AG, saw sales climb 36 per cent. Volkswagen, which did not report separate China sales figures for September, said its January-September sales jumped 39 per cent from the year before to 1.48 million vehicles.

© 2010 AP

China's auto sales jump 35.97% in first 9 months

BEIJING -- Auto sales in China rose 35.97 percent from a year earlier to 13.14 million units in the first nine months of the year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tuesday.

Auto production rose 36.1 percent year on year to 13.08 million units in the same period.

The sales figure is close to the total number of vehicles sold last year, when China overtook the United States to become the world's largest auto maker and auto market. Then, Chinese auto production and sales hit 13.79 million and 13.64 million units, respectively.
China's annual production and sales of new autos will surpass 17 million units this year, CAAM forecast.

In September alone, auto production was 1.59 million units, up 16.94 percent from a year ago and 24.69 percent from August.

A total of 1.56 million units of domestically-made vehicles were sold in China in September, up 16.89 percent from a year ago and 17.73 percent from August.

Production of passenger vehicles in the first nine months rose 38.07 percent from a year earlier to 9.88 million units while sales rose 36.68 percent to 9.9 million units.

Production of commercial vehicles in the first nine months grew 30.35 percent from a year earlier to 3.2 million units while sales rose 33.85 percent to 3.24 million.

(Xinhua)

Tyre output to touch record high on auto boom

Mumbai: India's 2010-11 tyre production is likely to rise to a record 121.4 million units as tyre companies boost capacity to meet booming demand from the local auto industry, a senior industry official said.

“Every (tyre) company is expanding capacity. Demand is good from both OE (original equipment) and replacement segments,” Rajiv Budhraja, director-general of the New-Delhi based Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

He said tyre production in 2010-11 is likely to rise by a quarter from last year's 97.13 million units, primarily driven by passenger car and two-wheeler segments at the crest of India's current auto boom

Passenger car sales rose 33.6% on year between April-September this year, data with industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.

Two wheelers grew 25.86% during April-Sept.

Passenger car tyres production is growing by 25-30%. Demand is very strong in this category. Off the road is also rising by 20-25%, Budhraja said.

Leading tyre makers like MRF Apollo Tyres, JK Tyre & Industries and Ceat have all been furiously working to ramp up capacity. Budhraja estimates an investment of Rs 100-120 billion on expansion in three years to 2011-12.

--Reuters