BEIJING, Feb. 4 -- Car sales in China will reach a record high of 6.4 million to 6.6 million this year, a 12 per cent rise year-on-year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has forecast.

    Fuelled by the central government policy to encourage the use of smaller and more energy-efficient models, passenger cars will lead the growth to place China as the world's second-largest auto market after the United States.

    In a press release, CAAM, one of the most important sources of industry information, reported that in 2005, 5.9 million auto units were sold in China, higher than Japan's 5.8 million and Germany's 5.2 million.

    However, opinions in Chinese language press argued, after taking away China's export and the factor of double counting, the number of units actually sold in China was around 5.7 million.

    This year, though, car dealers are reportedly already seeing a promising trend, especially during their heated sales campaigns before and during Spring Festival.

    Even before the festival, a Tianjin dealership for Geely a domestic brand reported 70 buyers were still waiting for the delivery of their new cars, said Zhao Jian, the dealership's general manager.

    Strong sales were reported in Beijing and Guangzhou as well. Braving sub-zero weather on Friday, in Beijing's Yayuncun (Asian Games Village) auto market a man surnamed Wu told China Daily that he wanted to buy a car.

    "I began to think about having a car a long time ago," he said. "And in this festival season, and seeing such tempting festival sales, I really can no longer wait to let my dream come true."

    According to the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau, there are 1.54 million privately owned automobiles in the capital city.

    Including the units owned by various institutions, the city has 2.15 million automobiles, or about one car for every seven people.

    Car sales are also on the rise in some second-tier cities.

    "We cannot rest for a single day," said a sales manager of a Ford dealership in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.

    "There were buyers knocking on our door on Lunar New Year's Eve. They drove away even the demonstration cars we had in our showroom."

    The central government wanted all local governments to lift their restrictions on smaller models before the end of March as part of its effort to reduce China's dependence on oil imports.

    Currently, 16 China-based car manufacturers are reportedly vying to roll out 25 new, smaller, low-emission models.

(Source: China Daily)