Study shows passenger vehicle production up to record highs worldwide

CARS and light truck production grew from 74.4 million in 2010 to 76.8 million in 2011 with 80 million expected this year driven by China and emerging economies, according to the Worldwatch Institute.

Increasing numbers of vehicles are being containerised today. Dealers find less damage done to vehicles than in ro/ro movement and the ability of getting cars to dealers in smaller numbers when they are needed is also a big attraction, according to APL Logistics of Singapore.

Global sales of passenger vehicles increased from 75.4 million to 78.6 million over the same period, with a projected 81.8 million in 2012, said Worldwatch analyst Michael Renner.

It says an estimated 691 million passenger cars were on the world's roads in 2011. When both light- and heavy trucks are included, the number rises to 979 million vehicles, or 30 million more than a year earlier. By the end of 2012, the global fleet could top one billion vehicles - one for every seven people in the world.

The United States accounted for 40 per cent of the 10.3 trillion passenger-kilometres driven in all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Still, US car travel is down slightly from its peak of 4.3 trillion passenger kilometres in 2005, to 4.1 trillion passenger kilometres in 2008.

The passenger vehicle fleet in China grew at an annual average rate of 25 per cent during 2000-11, from fewer than 10 million cars to 73 million cars. The top four producers of light vehicles, China, the US, Japan, and Germany, together account for more than half of global output.