china car market

China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest car market after the US, official figures show. Car sales - excluding people carriers and 4x4s - jumped 37% in 2006, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said. Total passenger car sales rose 30.02% to 5.18 million units, CAAM found. Analysts said that newly affluent drivers had boosted sales, with some predicting China may overtake the US by 2015 as its economy continues to grow. Overall, Chinese vehicle sales jumped 25% during 2006 to 7.22m units.