Global auto sales in 2013 highest in history

For the first time in history, the global auto market's annual sales exceeded the $80 billion mark. This positive figure was just released in a report by consulting firm IHS Automotive.

HS Automotive forecasts that global auto market sales will continue to increase, reaching 85 million vehicles this year - Photo: Getty.

CNBC news agency cited data from IHS Automotive saying that in 2013, global car market sales reached 82.84 million vehicles, an increase of 4.2% compared to 2012. This figure means that last year, every second, 2.6 new cars were sold worldwide.

The driving force for the positive sales growth of the world auto market last year was the world's two largest auto markets, China and the US.

When China's auto sales figures are released next week, they are expected to reach more than 21 million vehicles for the year. Meanwhile, the US sold 15.6 million vehicles in 2013, up 7.6% from 2012.

IHS Automotive forecasts that global auto market sales will continue to increase, reaching 85 million vehicles this year and increasing steadily until 2018, when global auto market sales are expected to exceed 100 million vehicles/year.

Analysts at IHS Automotive also believe that within just four years, China will reach 30 million car sales per year. By 2018, China is expected to account for about a third of the global car market's annual sales, but most of the growth will come from emerging markets such as India, Russia and Brazil, according to IHS Automotive.

IHS experts are still calculating the sales of each car manufacturer and each specific brand in the past year. However, the battle for the "throne" in sales is expected to be a tug-of-war between American car manufacturer General Motors (GM) and Japanese rival Toyota. German car manufacturer Volkswagen is expected to be in third place in sales, although not much behind its second-place rival.

The three biggest automakers are expected to sell more than 9 million vehicles each last year, meaning they account for about a third of the global auto industry’s total sales.

According to thoibaokinhte