China car sales set for third year of decline in 2020 as weak economy and trade war pressures build
- The world’s biggest car market is expected to drop by 2 per cent next year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM)
- China’s car sales fell by 9.1 per cent in the first 11 months of 2019, having slid 3 per cent last year in the first sales contraction since the 1990s
China’s car market, the world’s biggest, is set for a third year of contraction with a 2 per cent decline in sales next year, hit by a weaker economy and US-China trade tensions, the country’s top industry body said on Thursday.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) expects sales to slide to about 25.31 million vehicles in 2020, Xu Haidong, CAAM’s assistant secretary general, said.
CAAM said in October that 2019 sales are expected to fall to about 26 million vehicles this year, down about 8 per cent year on year. Xu repeated that prediction on Thursday.
China’s car sales fell by 9.1 per cent in the first 11 months this year, having slid 3 per cent last year in the first sales contraction since the 1990s.
Earlier, CAAM said vehicle sales in China are set to fall about 8 per cent this year, marking the second straight annual drop for the world’s biggest car market as consumers stay away from showrooms amid a cooling economy.
The China slump has left global carmakers with few growth regions as sales also wane in Europe and the United States. The industry is suffering as trade tensions and tariffs raise costs, just as competition from ride-hailing and car-sharing services reduce the need for individual car ownership.
Market leader Volkswagen AG and rivals such as Honda Motor Company, Daimler AG and BMW AG have continued to invest in the country of 1.4 billion people throughout the slowdown in the hopes that demand will pick up.
