Growth of the formerly red-hot Chinese auto market is as slow as traffic during the Beijing rush hour. At least, there still is some growth. Sales of all automobiles in China are up 2.9 percent for the first half of the year to 9.59 million vehicles. Sales in June were up 9 percent. This according to data released by the by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

China’s own brand sales are said to be in the doldrums, with Chinese brands losing 3 percent market share to 41.4 percent of all passenger car sales. Amongst foreign branded cars, Japanese brands are still in the lead, but German brands are closing in with 20 percent growth in the first six months.

Much hyped sales of new energy vehicles in China remain a rounding error. 3,444 pure electric vehicles were sold in the first six months, a total of 81 plug-in hybrids, and 3,905 regular hybrids.

With GM’s sales in China up 10 percent in June and the market up 9 percent, we declare that our patent-pending China sales oracle is alive and well again.