Beijing is encouraging its biggest carmakers – Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, FAW, Dongfeng and Chang’an – to lead consolidation of its automobile industry.
Detailing plans announced in January to support the automobile and steel sectors in the face of the global financial crisis, the state council, China's cabinet, pledged to increase the degree of concentration in both industries. The automobile industry plan is likely to attract global attention because the plight of several ailing carmakers in the US and Europe has repeatedly triggered rumors that Chinese carmakers could come to the rescue.
The cabinet's blueprint said it would seek major progress in restructuring the industry during the next three years and wanted “to create two to three big car making groups with output of more than 2m vehicles a year, [and] four to five car making groups with output of more than 1m vehicles” by the end of 2011. (Mar 27th 2009)