China auto sales hit record 8.79 mln in 2007

BEIJING- Auto sales in China jumped 21.84 percent to 8.79 million units in 2007 , which keeps China the the world's second largest car market after the United States.

Dong Yang, vice chairman of the automobile association, told Xinhua that China had 57 million motor vehicles by the end of last year and vehicle ownership in China is 44 for every 1,000 people, while the number of the United States is 750. (Xinhua)

GM
sales: 1.03 million

SHANGHAI - General Motors Corp. said that strong demand helped push its 2007 sales in China to 1.03 million vehicles, up 19 percent from the previous year.

Shanghai General Motors Corp., GM's joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., sold 479,427 vehicles last year, up 17 percent from a year earlier, the company said.

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., the company's mini-vehicle joint venture in China with SAIC and Wuling Automobile Co., saw sales climb 20 percent to 548,945 units.

"Despite growing competition across the board, demand remained robust for our established products such as the Buick Excelle and LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Lova," Kevin Wale, GM's China Group president, said in a written statement.

GM said Buick remains its most popular brand in China, with domestic sales of 332,115 units in 2007.

Sales of Chevrolets rose 21 percent to 172,182 units. Cadillac sales soared 148 percent to 7,022 units, GM said.

GM's China sales in 2006 totaled 876,747 units, up 32 percent from a year earlier. (The Associated Press)

Volkswagen

sales:910,491

BEIJING - Volkswagen AG held its lead in passenger-car sales in China last year with 28% growth, it's car sales rose to 910,491 units in China last year, exceeding its target of 900,000.

Volkswagen has two car-making joint ventures in China: one with state-owned China FAW Group, called FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., and another with Shanghai Automotive, called Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co.

This year the company said it wants to grow with the market and expects sales to increase 15% to 20%, aiming to sell more than a million cars in China this year.

Volkswagen is set to add five new models this year and to reduce the production cost in China as it centralizes purchasing and gets more items locally. (The Wall Street Journal)

Toyota
sales: 499,000

SHANGHAI - Toyota Motor Corp's it sold 62 percent more vehicles in China in 2007, helped by brisk demand for its Camry sedans.

Toyota sold 499,000 vehicles in the country last year, beating its target of 480,000 units, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.

Sales of Camry, the best-selling car in the United States in eight out of the past nine years, alone came to 166,000 units, she said.(Reuters)

Hyundai
sales: 231,137

In China, Hyundai's third biggest foreign market, the company expects to sell 380,000 vehicles, in 2008, up 64 percent from last year's 231,137 total.

Hyundai plans to introduce two new models in China this year, the Genesis and the Elantra sedan.

"We didn't have any new models in China last year, but competitors did," that's why Hyundai did not meet its 2007 sales target of 260,000 vehicles.

The automaker's global sales grew 4.1 percent to 2.6 million vehicles in 2007, including 320,000 vehicles in the EU last year and about 200,000 in India. (The Associated Press)

Ford
sales: 216,324

BEIJING -Ford's vehicle sales in China rose 30 percent last year, with overall sales boosted by the popularity of its Focus model, the U.S. automaker said in a statement Wednesday.

The total figure of 216,324 vehicles includes sales of all Ford-owned brands in the country - Ford, Lincoln, Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover - and was driven by sales of the Focus and the introduction of the S-MAX in March and Mondeo in November, the statement said.

Focus sales rose 57 percent in 2007 to 124,972 units. It was the fastest growing mid-sized car in China last year, the statement said. Mondeo sales hit 14,845 units in China in just six weeks on the market.

Ford Motor Co. and its joint-venture partners operate three vehicle assembly plants and one engine manufacturing plant in China. Ford operations in China also include an automotive financing company, a Nanjing-based sourcing and research and development center, and extensive sales and service operations.

The first Chinese-built Ford passenger car, the Ford Fiesta, was introduced in China in 2003. (The Associated Press)

PSA Peugeot Citroen
sales: 209,000

BEIJING - PSA Peugeot Citroen said its sales in China rose 3.1 pct last year to 209,000 vehicles.

The increase, which followed sales growth of 63 pct in 2006, gave the company's joint venture -- Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto -- a 4 pct share of the Chinese market.

Globally, PSA Peugeot Citroen's sales rose 1.8 pct to 3.428 mln units in 2007. （AFX）

BMW
sales: 51,588

SHANGHAI - BMW, the world's largest premium car maker, said on Thursday it sold 42 percent more cars in mainland China in 2007, as the country's growing ranks of nouveau riche snapped up the latest models.

Total sales swelled to 51,588 units in 2007 from 36,357 units a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Sales of BMW brands rose 40 percent to 49,388 units, with locally made BMW 3 and 5 series up 36 percent at 30,600 units. Sales of Minis jumped more than two-fold to 2,200 units, it said.

In the Greater China area, including mainland China, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong, BMW moved 61,098 vehicles in the period, up 37 percent, it added.

BMW has teamed up with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. to make BMW 3 Series and 5 Series in a venture in the northern city of Shenyang, with an annual capacity of 30,000 units.

Worldwide, the German car maker sold 1.5 million vehicles in 2007, up 9.2 percent from 2006. (Reuters)

Chinese automaker-Chery
Total sales: 381,000 (oversea: 119,800 )

Chery Automobile Co, the partner of Fiat and Chrysler, on Friday said it sold 25 percent more vehicles in 2007, but missed its sales target.

Sales at the company, based in the eastern city of Wuhu, grew by 24.8 percent to 381,000 units last year from 2006, it said in a statement.

But it said the figure is less than its goal of moving 393,000 vehicles.

Chery attributed the gap to a "strategic adjustment" that saw it take a step back from the price war in the local car market in the fourth quarter.

The carmaker said in September it would shift its focus from only expanding sales to stabilizing prices and improving quality, services and brand value. It delayed the launch of some new models.

Its 2007 sales ranked No 4 in China's passenger car sector, trailing a tie-up between General Motors and SAIC Motor Corp, and Volkswagen's two joint ventures with SAIC and FAW Corp.

Chery said its overseas sales rocketed by 132 percent to 119,800 vehicles last year, surpassing its previous target of selling 100,000 units abroad. The 2007 figure also makes the company the top car exporter in China for the past five years.

It plans to have a total of 14 plants in foreign countries by 2010 to assemble its own-brand cars as part of its push to boost overseas sales.

The firm in August agreed to form a 50-50 venture with Fiat to produce Chery, Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars in China with an annual capacity of 175,000 units for both domestic and foreign markets.

In July, Chery also sealed a deal with Chrysler to build small-sized cars under nameplates of the Detroit-based auto group for the US and European markets.

The Ministry of Commerce last month estimated overall vehicle exports from China would reach 600,000 units in 2007, up from 342,000 units in 2006. (china daily)

Chinese automaker - Brilliance
Total sales: 115,000 (oversea: 15,500)

Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd said Sales of its Zhonghua-branded cars soared 82 percent to 115,000 units last year while exports also rose 79 percent to 15,500 units during the same period.

It launched several new self-branded models last year to boost sales. This included the Zhonghua Junjie sedan, using China's first self-developed 1.8T engine, and the Zhonghua Coupe sports sedan.

In November, the car maker signed a contract to set up its fourth overseas factory in Russia, paving the way for selling more than 100,000 cars in the east European market within five years. (Shanghai daily)