China Production Up 7.1% in October

China vehicle production topped the 2 million-unit mark for the second straight month in October with 2,044,167 vehicles built. This was up 7.1% from year-ago and was the largest monthly volume since April’s 2.06 million-unit finish.

Light-vehicle production showed solid growth in the month, with cars and light trucks both posting increases over like-2013. Car output climbed 4.9% from October 2013 to 1,098,728 units, while light-truck builds surged 12.6% to 863,558 units, the largest year-over-year growth for the sector since June.

Medium/heavy-truck and bus production both fell short of year-ago levels, however. Medium/heavy trucks fell for the seventh consecutive month in October, down 14.9% to 69,658 units, while bus production tumbled 8.1% following a brief 1-month stint in positive territory in September.

Production of Chana PSA’s all-new Citroen-DS6 began in October with 1,435 units built. The DS6 will have a starting price of RMB193,900 ($31,500) and will be Citroen’s entry in the continually successful SUV segment.

SAIC GM-Wuling’s Hongguang van remained on top among models in October. With 67,535 units produced, it outpaced second-place finisher Great Wall’s Hover H by more than 22,000 units.

Holding an 8.1% share of the market, FAW Volkswagen maintained its position of top manufacturer in the month. SAIC GM-Wuling followed in second place with a 7.7% share, and Shanghai GM rounded out the top three, accounting for 7.6% of the market.

Through October, 19,270,055 vehicles were built in China, up 8.0%, or about 1.5 million units more than like-2013.

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