SAIC Motor, FAW Lead Chinese Carmaker Gains After August Auto Sales Climb
SAIC Motor Corp. and FAW Car Co. led gains by China’s automakers after a research group said retail vehicle sales in the nation jumped 59 percent in August from a year earlier.
SAIC rose as much as 10 percent to 17.68 yuan and traded 8.2 percent higher at 17.39 yuan at 11:22 a.m. in Shanghai, the biggest intraday gain since April 2009. FAW climbed as much as 10 percent to 18.36 yuan in Shenzhen, the most since November 2008. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.9 percent.
China’s passenger-car sales grew in August at more than three times July’s pace as higher incentives by dealers offset government measures to cool the economy, the China Automotive Technology & Research Center said yesterday. Today’s gain in auto stocks is a reaction to the better-than-expected sales numbers released yesterday, said Wang Liusheng, an analyst at China Merchant Securities Co.
“August is traditionally a slow season, yet the numbers showed a large rise,” Wang said by phone from Shenzhen. “Should sales in September remain strong, then stock prices can still go higher.”
Retail deliveries of cars, sport-utility vehicles and multipurpose vehicles rose 59 percent last month from a year earlier to 977,300, a government researcher said in a statement. Sales rose 15.4 percent in July, the center said last month.
China’s August auto sales exceeded market expectations, GF Securities Co. said in a report dated yesterday. The brokerage maintained its “buy” recommendation for the industry.
Sales increased even after China raised a tax on small cars to 7.5 percent from 5 percent and even as China took steps to slow its economy. The average auto stockpile period fell to 57 days in August, from 58 days in July, according to the center.
Passenger-car sales in the world’s largest auto market will maintain a “good performance” in September, the center said on its website. New models, government incentives for energy- efficient cars and price cuts by dealers will keep buying strong this month, it said.
--Liza Lin, Chua Kong Ho. Editors: Ian Rowley, Garry Smith.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Liza Lin in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-7010 or Llin15@bloomberg.net
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