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China economy
EconomyChina Economy

China’s car sales drop for 16th consecutive month as October falls 4 per cent

  • Total car sales in the world’s biggest market fell 4 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Monday
  • Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell 45.6 per cent in October following a 33 per cent decline in September

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China’s car sales in 2018 declined from a year earlier, the first contraction since the 1990s, against a backdrop of slowing economic growth and a crippling trade war with the United States. Photo: AFP
Reuters

Car sales in China fell for a 16th consecutive month in October, with the number of new energy vehicles sold contracting for the fourth month in a row, data from the country’s biggest car industry association showed.

Total car sales in the world’s biggest market fell 4 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Monday.
That followed declines of 5.2 per cent in September and 6.9 per cent in August. Car sales in 2018 declined from a year earlier, the first contraction since the 1990s, against a backdrop of slowing economic growth and a crippling trade war with the United States.
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Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell 45.6 per cent in October, CAAM said, following a 33 per cent decline in September. NEV sales jumped almost 62 per cent last year even as the broader car market contracted.

NEVs include plug-in hybrids, battery-only electric vehicles and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

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China has been a keen supporter of NEVs and has implemented sales quota requirements for manufacturers, but it cut subsidies for NEVs this year as part of an overall plan to reduce subsidies, making the vehicles costlier and dampening demand for them.

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