Major structural change is under way in China’s passenger car market. New car sales grew just 1.2 per cent in May, as the country develops a used car market for the first time in its history. Buyers in the world’s largest auto market now have much more choice when it comes to buying a car, and are no longer forced to buy a new car.
Chart 1 highlights the impact of this change, which is yet to be fully appreciated by many investors and suppliers to the industry. It shows new and used passenger car sales from 2000 – 2014, with our forecasts to 2020:
? The used car market only began to develop very recently (green area), but China’s Automotive Dealers Association (CADA) currently forecast that its volume will double to 11m this year