China is world’s biggest car maker

BYD E6 - Made in China, which has overtaken the US as the World's biggest car making nation

Don’t times change? Once was the time when America was the biggest car maker in the world. Powered by the omnipotent Big 3 – GM, Chrysler and Ford. But the last year has seen the demise of both Chrysler and GM as viable entities, with only Ford having the nous – and the cars – to survive the turmoil of the recession.

But now comes the news that China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest car maker. So far this year it has produced a massive 6.1 million car s- up 17% on last year – as opposed to 4.8 million in the US. And the predictions for the year ar that China will manufacture 13 million cars and the US will be lucky to make 9 million.

And the growth in China shows no signs of abating. So far this year they have introduced 89 – yes, 89 – new models, and there are reckoned to be at least another fifty to come. Admittedly many are clones of Western cars, such as the Geely GE ‘Rolls Royce Phantom’ or the mooted BYD ‘Porsche Cayenne’, but many are good cars like the offerings from MG / Roewe and the big advances in battery technology being made by BYD.

As we’ve said before – the Chinese are coming.