China's auto industry is booming, as shown by both manufacturing and sales in the first six months of the year. Close to 13 million cars were manufactured and sold in the first half of 2016. 

Both indices show a growth rate of more than 6 percent compared to last year. In the month of June alone, auto sales went up some 15 percent year on year, to more than 2 million units. Sports Utility Vehicles, or SUVs, led the growth.  The category surged more than 40 percent in both production and sales from 2015.

New energy vehicles saw an even more dramatic growth.  Sales more than doubled from last year, to more than 170-thousand units nationwide. Unfortunately, recall figures in the past six months also rose. More than 5 million cars were recalled, which is almost on par with the entire volume in 2015. It's the highest recall volume to date.