China’s auto profits continue slide
Profits continued to decline for China's automotive industry in the first seven months of the year due to the car price cuts and high material costs. The Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers disclosed that the country's automotive industry saw profits fall 45 percent year on year to RMB 26.7 billion ($3.3 billion) during the January-July 2005 period. Chinese automakers' earnings tumbled 59 percent year on year to RMB 11.2 billion ($1.4 billion) during the same period. Car price cuts and high material costs, which outweighed brisk sales in the domestic market, led to a significant decrease in the auto industry's profits. China's car prices are expected to decline 8-10 percent this year even as sales will grow 10-15 percent. For the first seven months of the year, sales of domestic-made automobiles rose 11.2 percent to 3.2 million units.