China May car sales up 22.6pc year-on-year
The Geely FC from Chinese carmaker Geely is shown at a car show in this file photo. Car sales in China rose 22.6 per cent in May from a year earlier, extending the double-digit gain made the previous month. – Reuters picBEIJING, June 9 – Car sales in China rose 22.6 per cent in May from a year earlier, extending the double-digit gain made the previous month, as new models premiered at April’s Beijing autoshow started to hit the showrooms.
The strong rebound by Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, which both suffered severe shortages of parts a year ago after northern Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, also pushed up the monthly tally.
Demand is likely to remain solid if Beijing renews some of the policy incentives which helped propel China beyond the US as the world’s largest car market by volume in 2009, industry observers say.
In May, a total of 1.28 million sedans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), multi purpose vehicles (MPVs) and minivans were sold in the country, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said today. In the same month of 2011, that number was 1.04 million.
From January to May, deliveries climbed 5.5 per cent to 6.33 million, continuing an uptrend which started in April. – Reuters
