Shanghai, Oct 22: China's auto production is on track to pass four million vehicles this year, topping France as the world's fourth largest producer, state press reported today. Output and sales of sedans, trucks, vans and buses is forecast to hit 1.2 million in the fourth quarter of the year, with full-year figures expected to exceed 4.3 million, said the report citing statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
In the first nine months of the year, production rose 35.8 per cent from the same period last year to 3.2 million units, with automobile sales up 30.2 percent at 3.12 million units. China manufactured 1.41 million sedans in the first nine months of the year, up 87.2 per cent from a year earlier and sales hit 1.34 million, up 68.8 per cent on the same period.
Truck production in the period was 932,800, up 8.0 per cent year-on-year, with sales rising 6.78 per cent to 902,000. The association said Chinese manufacturers are forecast to sell 600,000 sedans in the fourth quarter of the year, with end-year output totalling 1.9 million units.
China's top three automakers -- First Automotive Works Corp. (FAW), Dongfeng Motor Corp. and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) -- together make up 51 per cent of the country's production.
Together with their foreign joint venture partners, the top three also account for 49 per cent of sales nationwide, the report said. Bureau Report