Auto Sales in China Is Expected to Explode in 2010

As China’s economic development promotes the upgrading of consumption, cars have become the daily necessities of ordinary people instead of exclusive luxury goods to the high-income group. Due to the financial crisis, the economic growth of global major economies including China slows down obviously. However, in China, the sustaining growth of the demand potential in the auto industry displays the growingly prominent role of this industry in the national economy. In 2009, China realized the auto sales volume of over 13 million, becoming the global largest new vehicle market for the first time. The role of the auto industry as the pillar of the national economy is unanimously recognized by Chinese governments at all levels. This lays a favorable policy foundation for the sustainable development of Chinese auto market in the future.
However, the situation of the auto market differs in different regions of China. On one hand, large gaps exist in the economic development levels of different regions. For example, in 2009, the GDP per capita was over USD 11,000 in Shanghai, almost ten times the USD 1,300 in Guizhou. On the other hand, the geography, climate and history culture also vary from region to region. The local unique culture features will be demonstrated more prominently in the auto markets of small and medium cities yet there are numerous small and medium cities in China; the scale of a single market is relatively small and the difference in culture & economy will be large. Thus, the auto distribution industry has to establish channel models and marketing modes in accordance with the situation of the markets.

