Research group: China passenger car sales climb 34 percent in April as surge in demand slows

Growth in China passenger car sales slows in April

SHANGHAI — Growth in China’s passenger car sales slowed to 34 percent in April as a yearlong surge in demand began to falter, a private research group reported Monday.

Sales had jumped 63 percent in March from a year earlier.

The 1.11 million cars sold in April was down 12 percent from the 1.26 million sold in March, said the China Passenger Car Association, a Shanghai-based research institute.

Feeble sales in the United States and a surge in car buying by newly affluent Chinese helped make China the world’s largest auto market last year, when total sales jumped 45 percent over 2008 to 13.6 million vehicles.

Demand slumped in late 2008 but rebounded in the first half of 2009. While American car sales are recovering, they cannot keep up with the growth in China, where many families are still buying their first cars.

U.S. sales rose 20 percent over a year earlier in April, with most major automakers posting double-digit gains, according to AutoData Corp. But sales slipped 8 percent from March, when Toyota launched record-high incentives after a spate of safety recalls.

China’s auto industry does not release comparable monthly sales data adjusted for annual rates.

The slowing in demand was expected after the shift into overdrive last year, and total sales growth for the year is expected between 15 percent and 17 percent, according to most industry experts.

While sales of mini-vehicles remain strong, the impact of subsidies aimed at boosting demand for energy-efficient small cars and vans has begun to wane.

In some cases, mid-range vehicles remain in short supply.

Automakers anticipated that last year’s “blowout” was out of the ordinary, said the state-run newspaper Global Times in an article Monday.

“It’s impossible for people to buy autos like they buy radishes or cabbages, and for most people autos are still precious goods requiring careful calculations and budgeting,” it said.

The majority of sales in China’s market are by joint ventures with big global automakers, although domestic car markets are swiftly increasing market share.

General Motors Co. and its joint ventures earlier reported their sales jumped 41 percent in April from the year before to 213,115 vehicles, the 16th consecutive month of record sales.

GM’s sales at its venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., or SAIC, surged 62 percent to 89,562 vehicles in April, while SAIC-GM-Wuling reported sales climbed 19 percent to 113,633 units.

Cadillac and Chevrolet brands saw sales more than double from a year earlier, GM said.

Ford Motor Co. reported that its joint venture Changan Ford Sales Co. raised sales by 38 percent over a year earlier to 26,598 vehicles.

Among other top manufacturers, Volkswagen AG’s venture with SAIC sold 72,922 vehicles, while its venture with FAW Group said sales totaled 72,266.

Chery Automobile Co. was the biggest solely domestic manufacturer, reporting 50,144 vehicles sold, while BYD Auto, a battery maker that branched into auto manufacturing, sold 45,110 vehicles, the Passenger Car Association reported.

Associated Press researcher Ji Chen contributed to this report.