Demand for commercial transport equipment in China is growing moderately, according to the last China Commercial Vehicle Outlook, which is jointly published quarterly by ACT and China’s State Information Centre (SIC).
Reportedly, China’s economy finished the third quarter with real GDP growth of 7.8 per cent year-over-year – fuelling demand for heavy commercial transport equipment.
“Heavy truck and tractor growth was spurred by replacement demand and a steady macro economy,” said Frank Maly, Director – CV Transportation Analysis and Research at ACT.
“The forecast is for heavy and medium truck markets to continue to grow in the near-term, although modestly.”
While official full-year data is not yet available, media expect the world's second largest economy to have grown around 7.6 per cent in 2013, its weakest growth since 1999.
According to the Economic Times, latest figures indicate “sluggish economic activities” in the last quarter of 2013.
“China's latest economic figures, especially the purchasing managers' index (PMI) in both factory activity and the services sector, indicated sagging momentum in December, with the country's growth softening slightly last quarter,” the newspaper said.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is scheduled to release China's macroeconomic data for the fourth quarter and the entire year of 2013 later this month.