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Chinese car sales to hit 29.7 million by 2020

Posted on 20 June, 2017
Chinese car sales to hit 29.7 million by 2020

A report forecasts that new passenger car sales in China will reach 29.7 million units by 2020. The forecast by economists at ReportLinker is based on data gathered from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. New car sales in China totalled 24.4 million in 2016, compared to just 6.9 million in the United States. Comparatively, 4.1 million new passenger vehicles were sold in Japan last year. While the majority of new Chinese vehicles are manufactured domestically, foreign brands top the sales table. The top-selling car maker last year in China was Volkswagen, with three million sales, followed by Buick, with 1.3 million, Honda, with 1.2 million vehicles, and Changan, with 1.5 million sales. This prediction means that between 2017 and 2020, new car sales in China will maintain an annualised growth rate of 7.06 per cent. If these sales are met, China is predicted to account for 30 per cent of new market share in 2020. The continued growth of vehicle uptake in China is due to the rising average income of Chinese households, allowing for more car ownership, and the increasing urbanisation of the population as more Chinese citizens are drawn to larger cities. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with other government agencies, also pledged to increase the buying of new energy vehicles, such as EVs and PHEVs, to two million units by 2020.