China's 2011 Vehicle Market

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(1) Patti Waldmeir, China Car Sles Slow as US Roars Back. Financial Times, Jan 13, 2012. 2012.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d56d3 ... 7-00144feabdc0.html

The first three paragraphs:

"Chinese vehicle sales grew just 2.5 per cent last year, as the withdrawal of government stimulus measures tamed the exuberance of the world’s auto market.

"By contrast, the US last year bounced back to become the world’s fastest-growing big car market, with car and light truck sales climbing about 10 per cent. But at an estimated 12.8m units last year, US light vehicle sales were still far below China’s 18.5m.

"A decade ago, the US auto market was at least 10 times the size of China’s.

My comment: There is no need to read the rest. The report does not require sign-u, though.

(2) Jason Chow, Rolls-Royce Embraces China. Scene Asia, Jan 11, 2012
http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/ ... s-top-market-china/
("The luxury brand, which is owned by German car giant BMW, said earlier this week that it sold more cars in 2011 than ever in its history, thanks in large part to China, which overtook the US in 2011 as the largest market for the pricey vehicles")

(3) Gilles Castonguay, Audi Overtakes Mercedes as No 2 Luxury Brand. Driver's Seat (a brand of WSJ.com), Jan 9, 2012.
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-sea ... -no-2-luxury-brand/

(4) Premium Cars.  Financial Times, Jan 10, 2012 (in The Lex Column).
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/r ... ticle2296155/print/

(5) Chris Bryant and John Reed, VW Overtakes Toyota With Record 8m Sales; Number of cars sold climbs 14%; BMW maintains its leading position. Financial Times, Jan 10, 2012.

"BMW maintains its position as the world's biggest premium carmaker by sales.

"VW, whose stable of brands includes Audi, Skoda and Bentley, delivered 8.16m vehicles in 2011, a 14 per cent increase on the previous years, putting the Wolfsburg carmaker within sight of becoming the world's biggest carmaker.

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.
(b) The sidebar to this report:
Patti Waldmeir, GM and Ford Defy China Slowdown
(Despite a slowdown in China's car market, GM and Ford did well in 2011: GM reached record sales of 2.55m vehicles, rising 8.3 per cent over the 2010. Ford sales increased 7 per cent)