Chinese auto market recovery?

China's auto market, which has struggled over the last year, had a strong month of March. Details:

• China's six major automobile producers reported sales of more than 20,000 cars each in March.
• The total of 138,480 cars, was an increase of 85% over February sales.

Sales breakdown:

• The First Automotive Works (FAW) ranked first with 25,326 units sold in March.
• Shanghai General Motors ranked second with 25,260 units.
• Shanghai Volkswagen was third with 23,478 units.

Analyst predictions:

• In 2005, about 42 million Chinese families will be able to afford cars.
• By 2025, China is expected to supplant the United States as the world's largest car consumer.

Quick thought: Finally, some good news for Chinese car companies like China Automotive Systems (ticker: CAAS) and Brilliance China (ticker: CBA). Both have suffered lately from soft consumer demand for automobiles. (Analysts expect the China market to grow 10%  in 2005 after rising 15.2% in 2004.)

Of course, the question that comes to mind is how long it will take Brilliance China to inform investors of any changes in consumer demand. You may remember it took the company almost 9 months to inform investors of a slowdown in the Chinese car market. My guess is we will receive quick notice of any positive developments!