China's overall vehicle market has been a 'disappointment' this year thanks to a drop in sales of micro-minivans and heavier trucks, but demand for passenger cars in the country is likely to grow firmly if moderately next year and beyond, said a senior Volkswagen AG executive.

For the auto market as a whole, 'growth really has come to a normal level... and was not too impressive,' Karl-Thomas Neumann, chief executive of Volkswagen Group China, told a small group of reporters Monday. Various forecasts say overall auto sales in China are expected to increase about 3% this year to about 19 million vehicles, including passenger cars as well as other types.

But Mr. Neumann said he is 'confident' that China's passenger-vehicle market will keep growing for the medium term, even though he doubts the market is going to be able to go back any time soon to the days when demand increased 30% or more a year a few years ago.

Mr. Neumann said the total passenger-vehicle market, including cars imported from outside China, has grown 9% so far this year. Next year, he said, the passenger-vehicle market is likely to expand about 8% to 10%, and it should be able to keep that growth pace on average 'for some years to come.'

The Volkswagen executive declined to forecast sales next year for the German auto maker's various brands, which include Volkswagen and Skoda. In the first 10 months of 2011, Volkswagen Group brands sold about 1.9 million vehicles in China, up about 15% from a year earlier. Mr. Neumann said the group is likely to sell more than two million vehicles this year.

The main source of his optimism comes from a comparatively low rate of car ownership in China, he said. In China, 72 people per 1,000 people currently own cars, he said, without citing his source. The 'car penetration' rate is unlikely any time soon to reach levels seen in the U.S. and Germany, where well more than 500 per 1,000 own cars. But 'we could go 200 or 300,' given that the rate in Beijing is already above 200, Mr. Neumann said.

'So there is so much growth potential, and people I meet and dealers I talk to tell me that one of the things that families want to invest in is their own family car,' Mr. Neumann said.

NORIHIKO SHIROUZU

• firmly [´fə:mli] ad.坚固地，稳定地 (初中英语单词)
• normal [´nɔ:məl] a.正规的 n.正常状态 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• medium [´mi:diəm] n.中间；平均 a.中等的 (初中英语单词)
• comparatively [kəm´pærətivli] ad.比较地；比较上 (初中英语单词)
• invest [in´vest] v.投资；授予 (初中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• expand [ik´spænd] vt.张开；膨胀；扩大 (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl] n.&a.潜在的；可能的 (高中英语单词)
• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)
• moderately [´mɔdəritli] ad.适度；适中；普通 (英语四级单词)
• ownership [´əunəʃip] n.所有权；所有制 (英语四级单词)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (英语六级单词)
• unlikely [ʌn´laikli] a.不像的；未必可能的 (英语六级单词)