Closer Look: Auto Market Enters Golden Age, but Domestic Brands Still in Dark

(Beijing) – It is no exaggeration to describe China's automobile market as rolling into its Golden Age.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers' latest data show that from January to April the sales of passenger cars grew by 10 percent to 6.48 million. The U.S. car market had a growth rate of 1.4 percent in the same period.

Meanwhile, sales of imported cars in China grew by more than 20 percent. Joint-venture brands also saw strong expansion. While the JV of Chinese auto group FAW and Germany's Volkswagen sold more than 920,000 cars, a growth of 17.5 percent compared with the same period last year, General Motors sold 1.2 million cars for growth of 11 percent.