Two joint ventures of the German carmaker Volkswagen and one of the US auto giant General Motors top the rankings of China's biggest 10 sedan producers both in production and sale in the first half of this year, latest figures released by the China Automotive Industry Association show.

According to the figures, the top 10 carmakers by output during the first six months are Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Shanghai General Motors, Guangzhou Honda, Tianjin-FAW-Xiali, Beijing Hyundai Motor, Chang'an Automobile, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen, SAIC Chery and a new comer of FAW Toyota Motor, with last year's ninth player Fengshen Motor out.

Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai General Motors and FAW-Volkswagen also take the first three places by sales during the same period, followed by Guangzhou Honda, Chang'an Auto, Tianjin-FAW-Xiali, Beijing Hyundai, SAIC Chery, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen and FAW Toyota.

But the explosive growth of the auto industry last year has not repeated in the first half as many more businesses are joining in the industry to cut a slice. The top ten's first-half output and sales only account for 72.8 percent and 72.3 percent of the nation's total, each falling by six percent and 8.2 percent compared to those of the last year's top ten players.

The top ten also have more cars stockpiled back in their warehouses due to falling sales since April for ever intense competition. Nearly 70,000 cars have been added to this year's top ten's stocks, over half of the 114,100 units that fail to be sold among 1,246,100 sedans produced in the first half.

Last year's top ten, however, only had 2,724 cars out of the national total of some 40,000 cars unsold out of the 2,018,900 sedans manufactured.

But Shanghai Volkswagen, Guangzhou Honda, Beijing Hyundai, SAIC Chery and FAW-Volkswagen stand out with big rises in both output and sales compared with the same 2003 period. Chang'an continues its double-digit growth, while the output and sales of Tianjin-FAW-Xiali drop by 18.34 percent and 20.62 percent respectively.

Japan, Germany, ROK rank top three car exporters to China

Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korean (ROK) were the top three car exporters to China in the first half of 2004, accounting for 88 percent of China's car imports, according to statistics from China's Commerce Ministry.

In the first half of 2004, China imported 96,780 autos valued 2.918 billion US dollars, up 6.7 percent and 20.8 percent respectively over the last same period.

Sedans, jeeps and minibuses accounted for 91 percent of China's total auto imports in the first half of 2004. This includes 33,404 or 39 percent from Japan, 23,523 or 27 percent from Germany and 19,668 or 22 percent from ROK, according to the sources.

In 2003, the volume of China's auto imports reached 170,000. This is 100,000 more than that of 2001 when China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The volume of China's auto imports this year is expected to exceed that of 2003. Imported cars will not impose a great pressure on domestic producers because of the sharp growth of Chinese auto industry, said an industrial analyst.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2004)