GM's China chief says Chinese car market to grow 3-5% per year till 2020

[BEIJING] General Motors Co (GM) expects to see China's car market to grow 3-5 per cent every year until 2020, its China chief Matt Tsien said on Monday.

Mr Tsien told reporters at a press conference in Beijing that SUV and luxury will be hot segments in China going forward, with SUV and MPV accounting for 40 per cent of firm's overall China growth.

GM will launch 60 new or refreshed vehicles in the next five years, when more than 10 new green energy vehicles will be introduced to China, Mr Tsien said.

China is expecting its overall vehicles sales this year to grow 6 per cent, compared with 4.7 per cent last year and 6.9 per cent for 2014.

Vehicle sales growth ground to a halt in mid-2015 as the economy's growth slowed and the stock market slumped, although car sales rebounded late in the year after the government cut taxes on small engine cars from October.

Analysts say the world's largest auto market has entered a period of unprecedented uncertainty as the economy grows at its slowest pace in 25 years.

REUTERS