China’s 14 largest state-owned car makers doubled their profits year on year in the first half to 17.99 billion yuan, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said, according to Dow Jones.
The three largest car makers, FAW Group Corp., Dong Feng Motor Group, and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (Group) together posted profits of CNY16.75 billion, up 97% on year, the council said, without specifying the type of profits, according to the news agency report.
Dow Jones noted that FAW has joint ventures with Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp., Shanghai Automotive has joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors Corp., and Dong Feng has joint ventures with Nissan Motor Co., PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Honda Motor Co., and Kia Motors Corp.
According to Dow Jones, the commission said on its web site that the outbreak of SARS affected the car industry, causing inventories to rise slightly. In the first half this year the sales to production ratio was 99.3% it reportedly said, down 0.5% compared to the same period last year.
China’s cars sales continue to boom, with sales of all domestically made vehicles surpassing two million units in the six months ended June, a year on year rise of 32%, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Dow Jones noted.
