Every farmer in China wants a new vehicle, all 800 million of them

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Every farmer in China wants a new vehicle, all 800 million of them
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Posted by: godoftrading

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. can thank U.S. taxpayers for $13.4 billion in loans that have kept it running. The carmaker can also thank China’s government, which is kicking in subsidies of as much as $1,170 to help it sell vans.

The automaker’s China minivan venture boosted sales 32 percent in the first two months after a cut in retail taxes on small vehicles. The government is now giving out 5 billion yuan ($731 million) in subsidies to spur auto sales in rural areas.

GM doubled its 2009 forecast for China’s market growth as the tax cuts and subsidies revived demand, helping the country pass the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market so far this year. By contrast, the Detroit-based carmaker’s domestic sales have plunged 51 percent, forcing it to seek as much as $16.6 billion more in government aid.

“Every farmer in China wants a new vehicle, all 800 million of them,” said Yale Zhang, a consultant at CSM Asia in Shanghai. “It looks like the government wants to make that happen.”

The auto subsidies fit into China’s wider push to help spread economic growth into rural areas, heavily dependent on agriculture. The rural areas are home to about half of the country’s 1.3 billion people. They are also in line with China’s 4 trillion yuan stimulus plan designed to help revive the economy by spurring domestic consumption.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...AzTY&refer=home

Posted by: forwardone

More vans=more pollution

Posted by: golddust

There sure are enough cars to go around - the pictures tell the story, be sure to click the links to see them. (Too much graphics for the post I guess, I couldn't get the pics to post.)

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...b5437fc00b397bc

Nissan has announced plans to cut its Sunderland workforce by 1,200. Thousands of unsold cars are stored around the factory's test track

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...96c7aff00fd857d

Honda is halting production at its Swindon plant in April and May, extending the two-month closure announced before Christmas to four months. Honda and Japanese rival Toyota are both cutting production in Japan and elsewhere. Pictured, Hondas await export at a pier in Tokyo.

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...96c7aff00fd85ee
Earlier this week Jaguar Land Rover said 450 British jobs would go

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...b5437fc00b39875

The open car storage areas in Corby , Northamptonshire, are reaching full capacity

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...96c7aff00fd86af
Newly imported cars fill the 150-acre site at the Toyota distribution centre in Long Beach , California (love the picture though)

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...4b9b98300fabc69

The build-up of imported cars at the port of Newark , New Jersey

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...96c7aff00fd8853
Stocks of Ford trucks in Detroit , Michigan

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...b5437fc00b39a75
New cars jam the dockside in the port of Valencia in Spain

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...4b9b98300faba6b
Imported cars stored at Sheerness open storage area awaiting delivery to dealers

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...96c7aff00fd8892
Peugeot cars await shipment to Italian dealers at the port of Civitavecchia

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...b5437fc00b39ab6
Unsold cars at Avonmouth Docks near Bristol

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...b5437fc00b39ac3
With many manufacturers on extended Christmas shutdown, the number of cars rolling off production lines in December fell 47.5% to just 53,823

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...b5437fc00b39ad4
Thousands of new cars are stored on the runway at the disused Upper Heyford airbase near Bicester, Oxfordshire, on December 18, 2008.

http://static.10gen.com/businessins...96c7aff00fd8ab4
Sales of new cars in the UK have slumped to a 12-year-low and production of cars at Honda in Swindon has been halted for a unprecedented four-month period because of the collapse in global sales and represents the longest continuous halt in production at any UK car plant. The announcement comes on a day when the EU's Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen warned the outlook for the European car industry was 'brutal' and predicted not all European manufacturers would survive the crisis.
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Wonder why they don't have a 50% off sale? Unbelievable....