Despite the love affair American consumers have had with cars, this past year sales were very low. China has officially surpassed the United States as the world’s largest automotive sales market as auto sales in China last year increased by nearly 50 percent. On the other hand, American sales plummeted over 20 percent! Is this permanent? GM’s top executive, Kevin Wale, along with many other automakers seems to think so. Since we are in dire economic times, the jury is still out on whether or not these numbers are a clear indicator of where our auto industry is headed.
China has been becoming a huge economic force as of late. China’s residents have seen an increase in their income over the past several years and they have been spending this money on cars. As both China’s population and economy have grown substantially over the past decade, they want to enjoy the products which Americans have grown accustomed to buying.
What does this mean for American car companies? Well, this could mean that they will be selling more cars overseas. For many years, Americans have bought cars from companies overseas, but now it seems that the tables have turned and our country may benefit from this economic setup. It is too soon to know whether or not China will remain the world’s largest automotive sales market, however early indicators show that this seems to be the case.
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Stay tuned in for more information about automotive sales in China and the United States.
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