China produced 2,134,311 vehicles in November, up 20.9% from year-ago levels. This is the largest monthly output on record in the country, showing that the economy still is headed toward strong year-end growth.
Japanese automakers continued to display significant recovery in the month as well, while interest in a territorial dispute over uninhabited islands waned, allowing for increased sales of the automakers’ most popular models.
Car builds totaled 1,170,640 in November, the highest monthly volume ever for the sector, up 18.1% over like-2012. Light-truck production rose 24.8% to 854,774 units and medium/heavy trucks climbed 24.6% to 90,572. Buses rebounded from the 3.1% decline seen in October, rising 14.4% to 18,325 units, the largest monthly output since December 2012.
SAIC-GM-Wuling ranked first among manufacturers in November, holding a 7.7% share of production. Shanghai GM fell just short of the top spot with 6.5% of November’s total builds, and FAW Volkswagen placed third with 6.4%.
SAIC-GM-Wuling’s Hongguang van led November output for the second straight month with 66,452 units produced, accounting for 3.1% of industry output. Shanghai GM’s Buick Excelle placed in second with 47,204 units built.
Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen launched the Peugeot 301 sedan in November, building just under 2,000 units in the month. The sedan will be assembled in Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen’s Wuhan plant and will compete with models such as the Nissan Sunny, which currently has an output of about 10,000 units per month.
Through November, 19,989,255 vehicles were produced in China, up 14.3% over like-2012, setting the country up to pass the 20 million-vehicle mark at year-end.
