Vehicle sales in China in the first two weeks of February declined by 92 percent year on year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). In particular, average daily vehicle sales amounted to 811 units in the February 1-9 period, down 96 percent year on year, while average daily vehicle sales amounted to 4,098 units in the February 10-16 period, down 89 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, the CPCA said it expects that sales of vehicles in China in February will be much lower than previous expectations and will decrease by 70 percent year on year, while the sales of vehicles will decline by 40 percent in the January-February period.
“Few dealers started business in February due to the coronavirus, and buyers were reluctant to purchase vehicles unless there was a pressing need,” the CPCA explained.
However, the CPCA considers that measures and policies in China to further stabilize auto consumption and to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus on car consumption will likely exert a positive impact on the car market in the full year of 2020.
Due to the policies in question, the CPCA has adjusted its expectation for the vehicle sales volume for the whole year: for instance, it forecast in early February that vehicle sales in 2020 would see a year-on-year decline of five percent, while currently it expects a slightly positive growth for 2020, with 1.0 percent year-on-year growth predicted for the April-December period of the year.