A growing automotive market
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Although the market remains modest in comparison with population numbers (1,261 billion inhabitants, 20% of the world's population), it is growing continuously. Over the past ten years, the market has expanded by around 15% on average on an annual basis with a "sales explosion " in 2002.
Reflecting this trend, the Chinese automotive market (PC/LCV) increased from around one million vehicles in 1978 to 12,5
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million vehicles in 2000. China's membership of the World Trade Organisation should further underpin the development of its automotive market: customs duties will be lowered (from 80% to 25%) and import quotas will be gradually phased out between now and 2006. Customs duties have already fallen to 38,2% in 2003.
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A rapidly changing market structure
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Even though commercial vehicles continue to dominate the automotive market (55%), the passenger car market is expanding at a rapid pace.
Access to private cars is one of the key trends in this sector, and it has been furthered by the emergence of new types of
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financing. At the end of 2002, the passenger car market in China totalled 1,1 million vehicles, an increase of 53% on 2001. The market is expected to continue growing over the coming years.
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Growth encouraged by the State
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The 2001-2005 five-year plan reflects the Chinese government's determination to develop the automotive industry, which is one of the pillars of the national economy. As part of this, the authorities have initiated a policy to develop the road infrastructure and so make travelling easier in key development areas (on the east coast), while also opening up a number of less developed
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regions located more to the west. Even though China has the world's third biggest road network with 1,4 million km of roads, overall coverage of the country remains low. Major projects are under way, such as the construction of a motorway between the two cities of Beijing and Canton, which are 2 500 km apart.
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