In August this year, production and sales of automotive vehicles in China totaled 1.991 million units and 1.958 million units, down 0.5 percent and 6.9 percent year on year, with these respective declines 11.4 percentage points lower and 2.6 percentage point higher than those recorded in July, as announced by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). This was the fourteenth consecutive monthly decline.
In the January-August period of the current year, production and sales of automotive vehicles in China totaled 15.939 million units and 16.104 million units, down 12.1 percent and 11.0 percent year on year, respectively, with these respective declines 1.4 percentage points and 0.4 percentage point lower than those recorded in the January-July period this year.
Output and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) amounted to 74,000 units and 69,000 units in August, down 12.1 percent and 15.8 percent. Following a 4.7 percent decline in NEVs sales in July--which was the first decline since January of 2017, NEVs sales declined faster in August. However, in the year of 2018, NEVs sales indicated a year-on-year rise of 61.7 percent, despite a 2.8 percent drop seen in auto sales-- the first year-on-year drop since the year of 1990.
Sluggish performance in auto sales has exerted a negative impact on the demand for steel and this trend will likely continue in the future.