Chery, one of China's largest automakers, has arranged access to loans of up to Rmb10bn ($1.45bn) from the China Export import Bank at a time when the carmaker's domestic sales have fallen in line with a sharp slowdown in Chinese car sales.
The news came as the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced a 10 per cent drop in November car sales in China, the world's second largest market.
The official Xinhua news agency said Chery would use the money to finance overseas expansion and import technology and equipment.
The agency said Chery had exported 125,000 cars in the first 10 months of this year – more than in the whole of 2007 – and planned to increase that to 400,000 in 2010.
But industry analysts said that the loans could provide crucial support to Chery at a time when its domestic business is suffering from a crisis of confidence among Chinese buyers, provoked by the global economic downturn.
Chinese carmakers, many of whom have expanded rapidly in recent years, have been lobbying Beijing for support since the country's car sales began to slow dramatically in August.
“This is a way for the government to support Chery… Money that would have gone to export support can now go to product development,” or could be spent in other ways to support the domestic business, said John Bonnell, a Singapore-based analyst at JD Power, the auto consultancy.
Chery's total sales have fallen 8 per cent in the first 10 months, according to JD Power. Auto industry analysts said that since Chery says its exports have risen in that time, its domestic sales are therefore down even more sharply than other carmakers.
Mr Bonnell said JD Power expects Chery's total sales for 2008 to drop from 380,000 in 2007 to 360,000, partly as a result of weakening in Chery's main export markets, Russia and Ukraine.
Chinese car sales had shown a brief glimmer of hope in October, when dealer incentives temporarily boosted sales.
But November's sharply lower sales figures will add to the strain on global automakers, most of which are already wrestling with plunging demand in the US, Europe, Japan, Brazil and India.
参考译文:
中国最大的汽车制造商之一奇瑞(Chery)已从中国进出口银行(China Export import Bank)获得至多100亿元人民币（合14.5亿美元）的贷款安排。目前，随着中国汽车销售出现大幅放缓，该汽车制造商的国内销量也有所下滑。
与此同时，中国汽车工业协会宣布，中国11月份汽车销量下降10%。中国是全球第二大汽车市场。
官方的新华社表示，奇瑞将用这笔资金为海外扩张融资，以及进口技术与设备。
新华社表示，今年前10个月，奇瑞共出口12.5万辆汽车——超过2007年全年总量——并计划在2010年增加到40万辆。
不过，行业分析师表示，这些贷款有可能为奇瑞提供关键支持。目前，受全球经济低迷影响，奇瑞国内业务正遭受中国消费者的信任危机。
近年来，许多中国的汽车制造商经历了快速扩张。自该国汽车销量8月份开始大幅放缓以来，中国的汽车制造商一直在游说政府，以期获得支持。
汽车咨询公司JD Power驻新加坡的分析师约翰?邦内尔(John Bonnell)表示：“这是政府支持奇瑞的一条途径……本来用以支持出口的资金如今可被用作产品开发，”或通过其它方式支持该公司的国内业务。
JD Power数据显示，今年前10个月，奇瑞总销量下降了8%。汽车业分析师表示，由于奇瑞称其出口量在此期间有所上升，因此其国内销售的下跌幅度远远超过其它汽车制造商。
邦内尔表示，JD Power预计，奇瑞2008年总销量将从2007年的38万辆降至36万辆，在一定程度上是由于奇瑞主要出口市场——俄罗斯和乌克兰——的需求日渐疲软。
中国汽车销售曾在10月份显示出短暂的希望。当时，经销商激励措施一度提振了销量。
不过，11月份骤降的销售数据将使全球汽车制造商的压力加大，它们大多数已在疲于应付美国、欧洲、日本、巴西和印度不断下跌的需求。
