China’s car sales in January slide for 19th consecutive month as coronavirus puts brakes on economy
- Car sales fell 18.7 per cent in January, worse than expected, as the novel coronavirus took a toll on China’s economy
- China, the world’s biggest car market, is bracing for even worse results in the months to come
Car sales in China fell 18.7 per cent in January, more than expected and marking the industry’s 19th consecutive month of sales decline, data from the country’s biggest auto industry association showed on Wednesday.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) posted on its official WeChat account that new energy vehicle sales during the month fell 51.6 per cent year-on-year, adding that declines in China’s car production and sales levels will be more significant in February due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The association had said on February 13 that it was expecting total car sales in the world’s biggest auto market to fall 18 per cent in January from the same month a year earlier.
The industry is bracing for the impact of a coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 2,700 people and infected over 80,000 around the world.
Local governments began imposing travel curbs and warning residents to avoid public spaces in the last two weeks of January, and industry executives said the epidemic was likely to wreak havoc on car sales and production in the first quarter.