The semi-official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers stated that car imports jumped 93 percent last year from 2009 to 813,600 vehicles, according to Yahoo News. Meanwhile, imports doubled by value to $30.64 billion, while Chinese exports only manage a 40 percent increase from a year before, to a record $51.8 billion.
A dramatic increase in demand and the stricken global market helped China overtake the US as the biggest car market by volume in 2009. Last year, the gap widened as sales of passenger cars, excluding large buses, increased by about a third to 13.7 million vehicles. But, according to the Association of Automobile Manufacturers, demand for high-quality imports remains high, despite the many foreign joint ventures that dominate the market.
SUVs lead the pack with 351,400 vehicles arriving in China last year, up 69 percent from 2009. Meanwhile, sedan imports more than doubled to 343,700, the report said. Japanese manufacturers dominated, followed by manufacturers from Germany, South Korea and the United States.
Global exports of ‘Made in China’ cars have been sluggish, especially due to the fact that local assembly is struggling to keep up with demand. The Asian country’s auto exports are mainly buses, trucks and knockdown kits for assembly overseas, sold by domestic manufacturers to developing countries. Last year, they accounted for less than 3 percent of production, far behind the results achieved by countries like South Korea, Thailand, India and Brazil.
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