
BEIJING -- China remained the world's largest new-automobile market for a ninth straight year in 2017, despite the slowest growth in sales volume since 2011, as rising sales of SUVs compensated for a slump in smaller cars.
Sales climbed 3% to 28,878,900 units, data released Thursday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows. This is 70% higher than sales in U.S., China's closest competitor in market size, and 5.5 times the Japanese figure.