China may be biggest market, but U.S. still richest, study says
China may be the world's biggest auto market, but the United States is still the richest when it comes to new-vehicle sales.
According to a new study by TrueCar Inc., the total value of new-vehicle sales in the United States still exceeded the total value in China by as much as $161 billion (986 billion yuan) last year.
The U.S. remains No. 1 even though Chinese consumers bought 19.7 million new autos in 2014, compared with the 16.5 million new cars and trucks sold in the U.S., according to TrueCar.
The difference: Average prices in the United States soar above those in China, where the typical consumer commands nowhere near the purchasing power of their richer American counterparts.
In China, the average new vehicle's manufacturer suggested retail price comes to $20,805, based on a TrueCar survey of some 705 models and trim levels there. In the U.S., it's $34,537.
Those prices delivered $571 billion in total new vehicle sales in the United States but only $410 billion in China.
The tallies show why the United States, which has trailed China in total new-vehicle sales every year since 2009, is still a force to be reckoned with. Automakers know there are still fat margins to be had. And moreover, they don't have to split the proceeds with a joint venture partner, as they are forced to do in China.
"While the growth of China's new vehicle market over the last decade has been impressive, the total value of that market remains considerably lower than the U.S. and will remain so for some time," TrueCar President John Krafcik said in a statement.
The pricing gulf widens when China's domestic brands are cleaved from the international ones doing business there. The average price in China for domestic brands is just $15,706, while foreign brands can command an average of $32,278, TrueCar said.
And if sales of used cars are included, the U.S. is No. 1 in size and value. Combined U.S. sales of new and used vehicles totaled a whopping 53.5 million units last year, TrueCar notes. That was more than double the combined tally of 25.7 million units in China.
The value of those combined U.S. sales, again, blew out China's. The overall new and used market in the U.S. generated some $1.18 trillion in sales. In China, it was just $468.5 billion.
The U.S. remains No. 1 even though Chinese consumers bought 19.7 million new autos in 2014, compared with the 16.5 million new cars and trucks sold in the U.S., according to TrueCar.
The difference: Average prices in the United States soar above those in China, where the typical consumer commands nowhere near the purchasing power of their richer American counterparts.
In China, the average new vehicle's manufacturer suggested retail price comes to $20,805, based on a TrueCar survey of some 705 models and trim levels there. In the U.S., it's $34,537.
Those prices delivered $571 billion in total new vehicle sales in the United States but only $410 billion in China.
The tallies show why the United States, which has trailed China in total new-vehicle sales every year since 2009, is still a force to be reckoned with. Automakers know there are still fat margins to be had. And moreover, they don't have to split the proceeds with a joint venture partner, as they are forced to do in China.
"While the growth of China's new vehicle market over the last decade has been impressive, the total value of that market remains considerably lower than the U.S. and will remain so for some time," TrueCar President John Krafcik said in a statement.
The pricing gulf widens when China's domestic brands are cleaved from the international ones doing business there. The average price in China for domestic brands is just $15,706, while foreign brands can command an average of $32,278, TrueCar said.
And if sales of used cars are included, the U.S. is No. 1 in size and value. Combined U.S. sales of new and used vehicles totaled a whopping 53.5 million units last year, TrueCar notes. That was more than double the combined tally of 25.7 million units in China.
The value of those combined U.S. sales, again, blew out China's. The overall new and used market in the U.S. generated some $1.18 trillion in sales. In China, it was just $468.5 billion.
