China’s booming car industry saw passenger car output accelerate 89.7% year-on-year to 1.25 million units in the first eight months of the year, the government said today.
Of these, 169,400 cars were manufactured in August alone, up 63.2% year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. However, car production slipped slightly from the 170,900 units in July and a record monthly high of 179,200 units in June.
The bureau said it expects car output for the full year to exceed 1.8 million vehicles, against 1.09 million last year.
However, analysts caution that the Chinese car market could face a supply glut later this year and that there are signs already that the market is softening.
“There is a trend of short-term correction after car output and sales had sustained more than a year of rapid growth,” the bureau said in a statement. “It’s unlikely that car output will exceed the record hit in June in the remaining months of 2003,” the bureau added.
