China's auto sales up nearly 3%

 BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile² sales hit 9.6 million units in the first half of 2012, up 2.93 percent year on year, data released on Wednesday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

Auto¹ output during the period hit 9.53 million units, up 4.08 percent year on year, according to the CAAM data.

Sales of passenger vehicles reached 7.61 million units, up 7.1 percent, while production totalled 7.6 million units, up 7.9 percent. Sales and output of sports utility vehicles saw the fastest growth, surging more than 30 percent year on year.

However, sales of commercial vehicles slid 10.4 percent to 1.98 million units, while commercial vehicle output declined 8.6 percent to 1.93 million units, according to the data.

China's automobile industry boomed in 2009 and 2010. The nation overtook the United States to become the world's largest auto market in terms of sales in 2009. Sales continued to surge in 2010, jumping more than 32 percent to 18.06 million units.8 However, growth became more moderate last year, with a slowing economy and the expiration³ of policy incentives⁴ for car purchases. The CAAM said auto output and sales are not likely to rebound⁵ sharply in the short-term, as the Chinese economy still faces downward pressure.

The top 10 auto producers sold 8.45 million vehicles in the first half of 2012, up 4.5 percent. Their sales accounted for 88 percent of total sales, up 1.4 percentage points year on year, the data showed.

Some 3.15 million home-brand passenger vehicles were sold, down 0.2 percent. Their market share was reduced by 3 percentage points to 41.4 percent, in the face of strong competition from producers in Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to the CAAM.

The CAAM said sales of German and ROK passenger cars both grew more than 10 percent in the first six months in China, with their market share also rising.

The nation's vehicle exports in the first half year surged 28 percent to 487,900 units, the data showed.

The CAAM added that a total of 3,167 new-energy cars were produced during the period, 3,021 electric vehicles and 146 hybrid⁶ vehicles. Chinese purchased 3,525 new-energy vehicles, including 3,444 electric cars and 81 hybrids⁷.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

3 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

6 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

7 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句