GM Exec Predicts Auto Market to Grow 10-15% in China

22/02/2005

GM's China chief predicts the auto market will grow 10-to-15% annually for the foreseeable future in China.

Industry concerns about an overcrowded Chinese automobile market are "overblown," General Motors Corp.'s top executive in China said Friday, and he predicted the country's auto market will grow 10-to-15 percent annually for the foreseeable future.

China is the largest overseas market for GM (Research), the world's largest automaker, and earnings from the country have helped ease the blow from growing U.S. health-care costs and losses in European automotive operations.

Massive investments being pledged by global automakers to boost production capacity in China, and slower growth in the country's auto market, have sparked some concern about overcapacity.