Car production in China 2009-2019
Automobile production
With a production volume of about 23.53 million passenger cars, China ranked first among countries with the largest production of passenger cars in 2018. It was followed by Japan, Germany, the United States and South Korea - countries which are home to valuable car brands worldwide. In 2018, every fourth passenger vehicle in the world had been produced in China.
Automobile sales
China’s soaring vehicle production was rising to meet demand for years. Passenger vehicle sales surged from around seven million in 2008 to almost 25 million units in 2017. Since 2017, hiccups was observed in the vehicle sales market with slightly falling sales volume, mainly related to the economic slowdown in the country. It was forecasted that the sales volume of vehicles in China would still be dropping in the next few years until it starts rebouncing again in 2022.
Vehicle manufacturers
However, even though the production and sale of vehicles in China have increased rapidly, China has not claimed an increased market share of its own passenger car brands and Chinese brands are merely keeping pace with the international competition. The market share of domestical-designed passenger vehicle has remained much the same between 2015 and 2019. Furthermore, almost all of the leading bestselling cars in China are the product of joint ventures with foreign manufacturers. This is because Chinese law requires foreign carmakers to form joint ventures with Chinese brands. For example, General Motors has an ongoing cooperation with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, and South Korean carmaker Hyundai has formed a joint venture with the Beijing Automotive Group. Such regulation was supposed be relaxed graudally.