and still can't keep up with demand.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=av3dPlponcBw&pos=14“Based on our current growth rate and planning assumptions, the capacity of our two facilities will not be able to accommodate the expected future demand for our products,” Nigel Harris, general manager of Ford’s venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., said in an e-mail.
China overtook the U.S. last year as the world’s largest automobile market with sales surging 46 percent to 13.6 million, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Nissan, Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. are running their Chinese factories at full capacity, with overtime and weekend shifts, and still can’t deliver enough cars.
About 99.7 percent of cars made in China through November last year were sold, the association said. Foreign automakers are expanding assembly lines as buyers in secondary cities beyond Beijing and Shanghai benefit from government subsidies of at least 5 billion yuan ($732.5 million), a sales tax cut and 8.9 percent economic growth.
Car sales have been fueled by demand in rural areas where the growth rate exceeded that of urban regions last year for the first time, Trade Minister Chen Deming said in a Jan. 13 interview with state broadcaster CCTV.
“Spending power in the medium and small cities is rising, and demand there has surpassed those in bigger cities,” said Wei Tuo, a Henan province dealer for Nissan’s joint venture with Wuhan-based Dongfeng Motor Group Co. “Cars are no longer considered a luxury item but a standard consumer product.”
Wei’s company has about 40 outlets in the central region selling several brands. About 55-60 percent of sales come from middle- and small-sized cities, he said.
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