China is set for another 10 years of double-digit growth in the sales and production of cars, with annual sales close to 30 milion units by the 2020s. That's the forecast from the State Information Consultancy Centre, and after the experience of recent history, who would bet against it?
Yet the supply chain will face dramatic bottlenecks in operations and higher costs without further big advances in logistics. These must include multimodal services (rail shipment of cars is up 50% in two years), more transport reform (including fixing lengths for car transporters), and the ever-present challenge of better IT for flexibility and visibility. And these, and more, must be achieved against a backdrop of increasing social pressure to reduce emissions and pollution