China's booming sedan sale hit a record high of 890,000 units in
the first quarter, about one third of the total sale in 2005, the
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Friday.
Jetta, manufactured by Faw Volkswagen, ranked the top in the
first quarter with a total sale of 17,500, an increase of 79.57
percent year-on-year. Elantra of Beijing Hyundai followed with a
sale of 14,000, up 21.7 percent over last month
In the sector of medium and top grade sedans, Lingyu, a new
series of Passat of Shanghai Volkswagen, the joint venture of
Germany's Volkswagen in China General Motors, topped with a sale of
10,600, followed by Hongda of Guangzhou Honda Automobile
Corporation and Corolla of Faw Toyota Motor.
Experts said that the sedan sale is expected to moderate in the
second quarter due to the rise of oil price.
China's growing middle class is expected to make the mainland
the world's third largest automobile market by 2008, surpassing
France and Germany.
The association also released the sale information of
sport-utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles last month, which
witnessed a cheering rise compared with that of February.
The association attributed the rising sale of SUV and MPV to
China's new tax on luxury cars, taking effect on April 1, as well
as the anticipative climbing prices of luxury cars.
China has taken various measures to prompt the development of
environment-friendly cars nationwide, including new tax on luxury
cars and the release of restrictions on cars with low emissions in
some large cities.
(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2006)