Sino` the times

Huge statistical figures stick to China like big bumble bees to honey. And it's even more apparent when you look at the Chinese automotive industry.

The automotive revolution hit China barely 30 years back, when Volkswagen managed to part the Bamboo Curtain and set up shop in the Middle Kingdom. Today, there's not a single serious car manufacturer in the world who wants to miss out on the China bus.

And why would they, considering that the Chinese auto market grew at an average of 22 per cent from 2000 to 2005?

Last year, about 8.79 million vehicles were produced and sold in China. If anyone expected a slowdown in sales because of conditions across the world and the prolonged spike in fuel prices, they would be laughed at in China.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported that in the first five months of 2008, 4.3 million vehicles were sold