VW Retains Rank as China's Market Share Leader
Volkswagen AG continues to hold top market share in China
with a combined 38.2 percent market share through its
two joint ventures in China.
Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive produced 202,578 passenger
cars and sold 192,193 of them in the first six months
of the year, and FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd.,
based in Changchun in northeast China, manufactured 147,001
cars and sold 130,291, according to the latest figures
released by the official Xinhua News Agency. The two makers
grabbed 22.8 percent and 15.4 percent of market share
respectively.
In the first half of this year, 842,800 cars were sold
in the first half of 2003. This easily puts China on track
to break through the 1 million mark for this year, a record
it broke for the first time in 2002.
Recently, VW announced
plans to increase its production and sales in China.
Major auto and parts makers such as Volvo
and Visteon
have all made major moves into the China market this year.
All players are betting that the China market, which is
growing at more than 8 percent annually will absorb the
new capacity.
Skeptics charge that too many lines are overlapping,
and this will lead to a price war in the future.
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