The cost of auto boom

This will be a year of milestones for many carmarkers in China with both production and sales of new vehicles having exceeded 10 million units in the first 10 months for the first time.

However, while enjoying these robust figures, domestic automakers should not lose sight of the rising cost of driving in this country. If they do not do their best to bring down the environmental and economic cost of their cars as soon as possible, expectations of a sustained expansion of the auto market can prove all too premature.

On Monday, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced that vehicle sales reached 10.9 million units between January and October, up 37.8 percent over the same period last year.