Auto exporters well behind

A study has said that China's carmakers would not challenge automotive giants from Japan, the United States and Western Europe for at least another decade, AFP reported. The study found that only about 3% of China's automotive output is export oriented. China's production capacity is expected to grow rapidly and could surpass Germany as soon as 2008 but it won't catch Japan's 10 million units of productive capacity until some time in the next decade. The study was conducted by the University of Michigan's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation and the IBM Institute for Business Value.