China may top Germany as No.3 auto maker
(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2005-11-13 10:24

Fewer Discounts

China's car sales grew 15 percent last year, slowing from a 76 percent surge in 2003 and 50 percent growth in 2002, as buyers held out for discounts amid competition.

The stockpile of unsold vehicles rose 11.2 percent in the first nine months of this year to 357,000 units while the number of unsold cars rose 14.4 percent to 143,000 units.

Some carmakers including Volkswagen, the largest overseas carmaker in China, put the brakes on increasing production to reduce their inventory. Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen last month said it would halt its output expansion in China, scaling back 6 billion euro ($7.2 billion) investment in the country.

Car prices will fall by less than 4 percent on average this year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission's research, distributed by the China Economic Information Network.

The price of so-called premium cars like Volkswagen AG's Audi cars will fall by between 5 percent and 10 percent next year on average, the paper said.

The Chinese government will spend 220 million yuan over the next five years to expand the nation's network of highways to 50,000 kilometers by 2010, from the current 35,000 kilometers, the paper said.