BEIJING (AP) - Auto sales in China's booming market are expected to reach 7 million units this year and grow by 15 percent in 2007, topping 8 million, a state news agency said Friday, citing an industry group.
Chinese drivers bought 6.45 million vehicles in the first 11 months of this year, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing Jiang Lei, deputy chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Sales last year totaled 5.7 million vehicles, up 13 percent from 2005, according to the association.
China is the world's third-largest auto market after the United States and Japan.
The surge in sales has prompted international automakers to set up factories in China while the country's own smaller competitors are boosting production and starting to try to export.