September 11, 2007 — China’s auto output and sales are forecast to reach a record 9 million units in 2007, media reports said, amid continuing problems with overcapacity.
The forecast is higher than earlier estimates of 8.5 million in sales and output, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported Sunday, citing Zhang Xiaoyu, vice president of the China Machinery Industry Federation. Meanwhile, a top economic planner warned that production capacity in the auto sector has exceeded 10 million units — far beyond sales of 7.2 million units in 2006 that made it the world’s second largest auto market last year, surpassing Japan. China is the world’s fastest-growing major auto market, with average annual growth of 26 percent 2001-2006. In the first half of 2007, output rose 22 percent over the same period the year before to 4.5 million vehicles. Sales for the period rose 23 percent to 4.4 million.