Fueled by increasing demand from China, as well as other developing countries, the Asia Pacific region is on pace to become the world’s largest car market by 2009. The region’s light-vehicle sales are expect to hit 23 million by 2009, compared to 22.7 million sales in Europe, the world’s current largest market by continent.
“Steadily rising incomes in the Asia Pacific region will make vehicle ownership possible for more consumers in those areas, and we expect China and India to remain the forces that drive future global growth,” Jeff Schuster, executive director of forecasting at J.D. Power, said in a statement.
The United States is still the largest market by country, but it is expect to be surpassed by China by 2025.
