Due to the negative impact from the outbreak of the coronavirus, vehicle producers in China are more cautious in formulating their sales strategies, while they foresee that vehicle sales in China in March will likely decrease by 38.0 percent year on year, according to the survey carried out by the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). Though the pace of decline will remain high in March, it will be slower than in February, when sales of automotive vehicles in China amounted to 310,000 units, down 79.1 percent year on year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
As of March 10, around 50 percent of auto dealers in China have returned to work, with the figure likely to increase to 70 percent by the end of March, according to CADA.
Meanwhile, CADA said dealers’ inventories amounted to 3.0 million units as of the end of February, remaining almost stable compared to the end of January. Though the Chinese government has planned to issue policies to stimulate the vehicle industry, such measures will not take effect until the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, public transportation has gradually recovered to normal levels, while consumer confidence as regards vehicle purchases will unlikely return to normal levels by the end of March.
CADA has forecast that the decline in vehicle sales will slow down in March compared to February, and sales will not show much improvement until May.