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Major Chinese carmakers' 2009 pre-tax profit up 68%

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-10 01:31

BEIJING: Profit before tax for China's 17 major carmakers surged 68 percent year-on-year in 2009, after negative growth in 2008, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tuesday.

The 17 carmakers, which produced more than 90 percent of Chinese-made cars, expect combined profit before tax climbing to 224.1 billion yuan ($32.8 billion) in 2009, CAAM said.

CAAM said preliminary data showed the industrial added-value of the carmakers rose 36 percent year-on-year to 307.65 billion yuan in 2009, 25 percentage points higher than the 11-percent growth for China's total industrial output.

The 17 carmakers saw industrial output up 31 percent year-on-year in 2009 to hit totally 1.395 trillion yuan with revenues up 30 percent year-on-year to 1.513 trillion yuan. The increases are 27 percentage points and 20 percentage points higher, respectively, than those of 2008.

The figures came after statistics from CAAM confirmed in January that China had overtaken the United States as the world's top automaker and market in 2009, with annual sales reaching 13.64 million units.

China's auto sales and output both more than doubled in January from a year earlier to exceed 1.6 million units, a new record, the CAAM said.