Analysts at &P Global Ratings forecast
the global market at about 83 million units for 2021, after a very
disappointing 77 million during 2020.
U..
car and light truck sales totaled 17.1
million units for full-year 2019, according to NADA, declining to about 14.4
million in 2020.
For the entire year 2021,
sales were likely to be in the 14.3 million vehicle range, per a late-summer
Cox Automotive estimate.
The stock of
new cars available through dealers was very low during 2020 and 2021, due to
temporary COVID-related shutdowns of factories and a lack of critical
components.
While estimates of its annual unit sales vary
widely, China has clearly become the world's largest car market.
For 2020, the China Association of Automobile
Manufacturers (CAAM) reported 25.3 million new vehicles sold.
However, China's sales are subject to change
due to such factors as economic growth, the availability of credit and the
regulatory environment.
China's
government has a great deal of control over the market, as, at any time, it may
increase sales by encouraging new auto loans, or decrease sales by adding new
registration fees or restricting traffic in major cities in order to reduce
congestion and pollution.
The rising affluence of consumers in China has
been creating both huge opportunities and major problems.
China has become the world's largest user of
energy overall and one of the world's largest importers of petroleum products,
partly to fuel its burgeoning fleet of
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