Last month, just less than 1 million cars were sold in China, a 76% year on year increase

SHOOT: An extra million cars a month, in just one country. I guess $147 oil is a distant memory, irrelevant, in China.

clipped from www.ft.com SHANGHAI, Nov 9 - China’s passenger cars sales in October surged 75.8 per cent from a year earlier, official data showed, extending the explosive growth in recent months as government incentive policies continued to lure customers. A total of 946,400 passenger cars were sold in October, up sharply from 538,500 units sold a year earlier, but slightly lower that 1.02m units sold in September, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Monday. “Autumn is usually the best auto selling season. But it is not that obvious this year as sales have been so strong all along,” said Qin Xuwen, an analyst with Orient Securities. China’s car market has been a major bright spot amid a global industry downturn thanks to a raft of government incentives which had effectively bolstered consumer confidence. Overall vehicle sales, from trucks to buses, jumped 72.48 per cent in October to 1.23m units from a year earlier, the association said, after gaining 77.99 per cent in September.