China’s car sales sank 5.4 per cent in November marking 17th consecutive monthly decline
- Car sales sank 5.4 per cent in November from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Tuesday
- Sales for the 11 months through November were down 10.5 per cent from a year earlier
China’s car sales sank 5.4 per cent in November from a year earlier, putting the industry’s biggest global market on track to shrink for a second year after a 17th consecutive monthly decline.
An industry group, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said on Tuesday drivers bought just over 2 million sport utility vehicles, sedans and minivans.
Demand has been dented by consumer jitters over cooling Chinese economic growth and a trade war with Washington.
Sales for the 11 months through November were down 10.5 per cent from a year earlier, while total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, were down 3.6 per cent at 2.5 million.
Chinese car sales have been slowing after years of double-digit growth that made the country the world’s largest market by vehicle sales.
The slump is squeezing carmakers that are under pressure to invest in electric vehicle development to meet government sales quotas.
November’s sales were a small improvement on October’s 5.8 per cent contraction.
Demand for electric cars has plummeted since government subsidies ended in mid-2019.
After spending billions of dollars to promote the technology, regulators are shifting the burden to carmakers by requiring them to earn credits for electrics sales or buy them from competitors that exceed their targets.
Sales of sport utility vehicles, previously the industry’s strongest segment, were down 7.1 per cent for the 11 months through November.
Sales by Chinese brands fell 11.4 per cent to 806,000. They lost 2.7 percentage points of market share from a year earlier to 39.2 per cent.
