MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New-car sales in China expected to reach a world record 18 million in 2010

Cars and more cars and nowhere to park

More new automobiles are expected to be sold in China this year than have ever been sold in any nation ever in a calendar year, beating the current record of 17.4 million units from 2000 in the U.S.

New-car sales in China will jump about 30% to 18 million units this year, according to an estimate released Thursday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. China is certain to top the U.S. as the largest automobile market for the second straight year.

A total of 16.39 million new cars were sold in China over the first eleven months of the year, up 34.1% on the year. Car ownership has grown not only in coastal areas such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but also in small and midsize cities in China’s interior. A strong appetite among the middle class for cars is widely expected to push the sales figure above 20 million units in 2011.

Congestion has become a serious issue across the country because road construction has not kept up with the sharp increase in motorists. Traffic accidents and pollution are other problems that have cropped up.

In the US, 10.44 million new automobiles were sold during the January-November period. The figure totalled 4.67 million in Japan.