Further proving that China is one of the world’s most up and coming new car markets, Volkswagen announced on Monday that China will likely take over Germany as the automaker’s biggest market.
VW was one of the first automaker’s to invest in the Chinese market, and that early gamble is really starting to pay off. VW currently holds a 19.1 percent market share in China and stands to gain even more in the coming years. VW expects to launch 12 to 14 new models in China over the next two years, compared to just 11 launches between 2005 and 2008.
Although sales have slowed a bit this year, VW’s Chinese sales are up 23.2 percent, totaling 531,614 vehicles, according to Automotive News. VW’s German sales currently total 534,390 units, but the German market’s growth of just 3.7 percent should allow China to eclipse Germany as VW’s number one market by year’s end.
VW expects the Chinese market to grow from 5.6 million units to 10.3 million over the next 10 years.
08/18, 6:44 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
I wish all the world’s FWD cars could go to China.
08/18, 6:44 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
How ’bout that. The People’s car sells best in the People’s Republic. Maybe they should take their fight with Porsche to the People’s court.
08/18, 6:46 PM
posted by:
olds307
Audi with a $20k discount……. why not.
08/18, 6:50 PM
posted by:
crackerhemi
SO long as they keep the GM/ford/chrysler **** out of China, I am fine with that. No reason importing ****.
08/18, 7:23 PM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
Wow, 1 in 5 cars in China is a VW? What a stupid population.
08/18, 7:38 PM
posted by:
ktulu
Shina will B evcerybodys #1 market soon
CDhrrysler has s0ome ccrap, but GM and 4d almot nun.
08/18, 7:45 PM
posted by:
Bimmer
I guess VW is more reliable then Chinas domestic crap cars.
08/18, 8:10 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
CrackerHemi, Ford and GM are already in China.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-gm-buoy-na-sales-slump-with-strong-chinese-growth.html
And not only are VWs more reliable than China’s cars, they’re safer, too.
Ktulu’s real screen name is Cthulhu.
08/19, 4:47 AM
posted by:
illwill
Isn’t Buick the best selling brand in china right now?
08/19, 11:56 AM
posted by:
DriveCritic
It’s only a matter of time before China becomes the leading market for many other car manufacturers — as an example, ownership of Ferraris has increased ten-fold over the past 5 years alone!
08/19, 12:06 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
It helps to know how many they started with, though. They could have gone from 2 to 20 and still increased ten-fold.