New car sales around the world will gain momentum next year after an initial recovery this year, likely setting the stage for record sales in 2011, the research arm of Scotiabank said in a report on Tuesday.
The emerging markets of China, India and Brazil will take the lead, but “the key US market” will not be far behind with an expected double-digit, 10 percent growth in auto sales, Scotia Economics said in its Global Auto Report.
“Global car sales will continue to be buoyed by the ongoing massive and synchronized monetary and fiscal stimulus,” said Carlos Gomes, senior economist of Scotia Economics.
The stimulus “has generated a global economic recovery, including improving auto lending across the globe,” Gomes said.
The report said better access to credit and the return to three percent growth in the world economy will enable next year’s car sales to recover half the ground lost over the past two years, setting the stage for record volumes in 2011.
In the US, car sales stopped declining by the middle of the year and have resumed normal annual growth rates since August as the economy experienced a “nascent” recovery, the report said.
This year, China surpassed the US as the world’s biggest car market, with sales surging by more than 40 percent to 7.3 million, with an additional 20 percent growth expected next year to almost 9 million vehicles.
In India, car sales also reached a record 1.4 million units this year, with gains accelerating sharply in the second half as credit availability improved, Scotia Economics said.
DISCOUNTS
Meanwhile, General Motors Co offered deep discounts on its remaining Saturn and Pontiac vehicles as it looks to move the leftover inventory of the soon-to-be-dead brands, a report said.
The automaker will pay US dealers US$7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac left on their lot if the vehicle is moved to dealer-operated rental or service fleets, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a letter mailed to dealers.
This will allow dealers to sell the cars and trucks to consumers at a discount, although the vehicles would be labeled as used because the dealer would technically be the first owner.
The offer expires on Monday, the newspaper said. GM spokesman Tom Henderson confirmed the details of the incentive plan on Tuesday.
“That was the purpose of the programs — to help dealers reduce those inventories,” he said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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