Vroom vroom. Car sales, swooning in the rest of the world, leapt 48.5 per cent in China in June, year-on-year, fuelled by government incentives. And forget protectionism. Foreign carmakers are making hay too; General Motors' sales in China are racing ahead, while BMW and Mercedes have been approved as official cars for bureaucrats. Those late to the party are piling in: Italy's Fiat this week signed a €400m joint agreement to make cars and engines in China. Chinese manufacturers, meantime, are still bent on acquiring overseas assets, undeterred by earlier mishaps. Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation is bidding for GM's Opel business in Europe.
在全球其它市場一片低迷之際，中國汽車銷量在政府刺激措施的推動下，6月份同比飆升48.5%。別提什么保護主義，因為外國汽車制造商也在獲益；通用汽車(General Motors)在華銷售增長迅猛，而寶馬(BMW)和奔馳(Mercedes)則已獲準成為官員們的公務用車。遲到這場盛宴的廠商正涌向中國：意大利菲亞特(Fiat)本周簽署了一項4億歐元的合資協議，要在中國生產汽車和發動機。與此同時，中國制造商仍有意收購海外資產，未被早些時候的挫折所嚇倒。北京汽車工業控股有限責任公司(BAIC)正在競購通用汽車在歐洲的歐寶(Opel)業務。