All mainland players but Brilliance China to post solid profits
The mainland's vehicles industry, which turned a corner last year after austerity measures led to a lacklustre 2004 and 2005, will reflect its new strength in publicly traded carmakers' earnings results.
The country's carmakers together increased net profit 46 per cent last year to 76.8 billion yuan, according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
'It is estimated that profit growth for Chinese carmakers this year will be similar to last year.' said Zhang Baishun, deputy secretary general of the association.
Net margin last year stabilised at about 4.6 per cent, with price cuts limited to 5 per cent to 8 per cent, Merrill Lynch analyst Grace Mak said in a report last month.
Analysts said price cuts of at least 5 per cent a year would continue for three years, with manufacturers rolling out new models frequently to offset the impact of price cuts.
'Some industry players will continue to benefit from rising production scale,' Ms Mak wrote in the report.
