Global car production and sales continue upswing in first half year
August 5, 2015
In the first half of 2015 global growth in the automotive sector was still supported the three large automotive markets in Western Europe, North America, and China. Car sales in Europe (EU28+EFTA) have increased by 8.2% to exceed 7.4 million with growth in nearly every region. However, the Russian car market continues to collapse with first half light vehicles sales down by 36% to 782,100 units.
Light vehicle sales in the US were up 4.4% in the first 6 months of 2015 to 8.485 million units whilst total light vehicle production increased by 2.7% to 5.956 million. Mexico continues to expand its production of cars and light vehicles with a half year increase of 8.6% to 1.723 million units, whilst Canada showed an 8.1% deterioration in production to 1.091 million. Total North American light vehicle production was up by 2.3% in the first half to 8.770 million.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) reports that production and sales of passenger cars reached 10.3 million and 10.09 million units respectively in the first six months of 2015, up 6.4% and 4.8% year-on-year. Continued growth has come from the increased demand for SUVs, which gained by 48%, and for MPVs which enjoyed production growth of 16.4%.
In Japan new registrations of passenger cars fell by more than 12% in the first 6 months to 2.3 million units, whilst the Indian vehicle sales have risen by 5% to around 1.4 million units.
The Brazilian light vehicle market continues to go into reverse with January to June figures showing a 20% fall to 1.3 million units.
