MEMA: Chinese auto aftermarket to triple over next decade

Research Triangle, North Carolina -- China's automotive aftermarket will triple in value to about $1200 million (€938 million) by 2015, according to Market Analysis, the quarterly newsletter of the US Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).

Although information about the Chinese aftermarket was somewhat unreliable, Chinese government surveys and Internet sources suggested that the aftermarket there was currently underdeveloped and ripe for market contenders, MEMA said.

The Chinese government estimated that the country will have nearly 100 million vehicles by 2015 and by 2030 will have nearly as many vehicles as the US, the association said.

Some 86 percent of the vehicles in China were government-owned, but government agencies will often use independent repair facilities when government service centres were unavailable, MEMA said.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)