Open road for parts market

Sector to see average growth rate of 30 percent through 2014: Experts

Although the annual growth rate of China's automobile market has slowed to about 8 percent from its high speed of previous years, the country's automotive aftermarket is barreling ahead.

Robert Bosch GmbH's booth at the Automechanika Shanghai, an international auto parts and services expo, on Tuesday. Xiao Xin / China Daily

The aftermarket, which involves the production, sale, distribution and installation of vehicle parts and accessories for vehicles that have already been sold, will show an average annual growth rate of about 30 percent in the five years between 2009 and 2014, said the consulting firm AlixPartners LLP.

"The automotive aftermarket growth in China is driven by increasing and aging vehicle population," said Ivo Naumann, managing director of AlixPartners.

Therefore, the "expansion of aftermarket business is one of the top initiatives for further sustainable growth for auto suppliers", Naumann said.

According to AlixPartners' analysis, the revenue collected in China's auto aftermarket will rise from 165 billion yuan ($26.37 billion) in 2009 to 369 billion yuan this year and 617 billion yuan in 2014.

A recent survey conducted by the company also showed that 54.2 percent of corporate participants in the poll believe that one of the chief ways auto suppliers will try to spur their growth in 2012 and 2013 will be through aftermarket sales.

The only likely source of growth to be cited more often was the introduction of new products, which was mentioned by 70.8 percent of the survey participants.

After slowing down quickly for a brief period, the passenger vehicle market in China has been on the road to recovery in recent months.

Even so, analysts say they believe the world's largest automobile market will not return to having its high annual growth rates of 30 percent to 40 percent of 2009 and 2010. But because of the sales boom of those years, a large number of vehicles are on the roads.

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