Seoul: Global auto sales are expected to grow at a faster pace in 2015 than this year, with relatively strong demand in the US, China and India likely to lead the overall growth, a report said.
The Korea Automotive Research Institute (KARI), a research unit of Hyundai Motor Co, forecast that global car sales will reach 87.1 million units next year, up 3.9 percent from this year. The projection is higher than this year’s 3.5 percent gain, according to South Korea’s News Agency (Yonhap).
The US will see a 2 percent growth in vehicle sales, with a total of 16.83 million cars to be sold, according to the report. Falling oil prices will lead to a change in consumption patterns as people worry less about the cost of filling up their cars, it said.
“As oil prices are falling, consumers in the US might prefer sports utility vehicles to small and midsize cars,” Park Hong-jae, head of the research institute, said at a seminar where the report was announced.
Car sales in China are also expected to remain strong next year. The report estimated that a total of 20.78 million vehicles will be sold in the world’s most populous market next year, up 8.6 percent from this year.
Sales will be brisk, especially in the country’s central and western regions where cars are becoming a daily necessity and in regions along the east coast where demand for new cars will be strong, the report said.
A stable economic recovery and strong demand for compact and utility vehicles will also drive up car sales in India. The report forecast that car sales in the country will grow 7.8 percent to 2.72 million units next year, higher than a 2.7 percent gain this year.
Car sales in Russia, however, were predicted to shrink 11.3 percent to 2.2 million units next year due to weak consumer sentiment hit by mounting economic uncertainties at home and abroad.
Car sales in South Korea have been relatively robust despite the slowing economic recovery, and will remain so for some time, the report said. The report forecast that domestic auto sales will hit an all-time high of 1.67 million next year thanks to slow but steady economic growth and more demand for foreign vehicles.
Park, the head of KARI, said the record may be broken earlier than expected given the recent market conditions. “We could see the figure hit an all-time high this year by exceeding the 1,646,000 units set back in 1996.” Agencies
