Over 1.14m passenger automobiles sold in China in June

A total of 1.14 million passenger automobiles were sold in China last month, Gasgoo.com (Chinese) reported today, citing recent statistics from the China Passenger Car Association. Although the amount is 2.4 percent less than May's result, it still represents positive year-on-year growth of 12.4 percent for the country's passenger automobile market. The CPCA attributes the slight fall in sales growth from May to June to the relatively low number of working days in the latter month.

Reported June sales of sedans, SUVs and minivans combined were 1.05 million units, 3.4 percent less than May and 8.0 percent more than last June. Sedans made up the majority of reported sales, 796,300 units, while SUV and minivan sales totaled 146,700 and 38,000 units, respectively. Sedan sales were 9.0 percent lower than last June, while SUV and minivan sales each grew 39.6 percent during the twelve month period. Shanghai GM remained the manufacturer with the most passenger automobile sales, having sold a total of 109,127 vehicles during the month. It was followed by FAW-VW (106,494 sales), Shanghai VW (93,809), Dongfeng Nissan (84,287), Beijing Hyundai (56,590), Changan Mazda (44,605), FAW Toyota (39,523), Dongfeng Yueda Kia (35,505), Dongfeng Peugeot (30,195) and Great Wall (30,135).

Passenger automobile exports have also noticeably increased last month. Domestic sales of Chinese own brand models, meanwhile, fell once again.

Two commonly cited factors behind the reasonably strong performance in June are the decreasing price of fuel and the renewal of macroeconomic policies aimed at stimulating consumption. The CPCA predicts market growth to continue, and perhaps even increase, in the following months. The CPCA expects passenger automobile market growth at the end of 2012 to finally settle around ten percent, with a total of 1.98 million vehicles expected to be sold during the year. The organization also predicts ongoing negative growth in commercial vehicle sales to cur down in the latter half of the year.