China’s car market has begun 2015 with an 8.7% sales gain in the first two months of the year, suggesting that demand is cooling in line with a slowing Chinese economy.
In the first two months of this year, wholesale deliveries of passenger vehicles including sedans, sport-utility-vehicles and minivans were up to 3.43m units according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
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Sales of all vehicles – including commercial vehicles – were 4.3% up in the first two months to stand at 3.91m units.
Figures released separately by some vehicle makers also point to slowing sales in the world’s biggest car market. GM’s China sales were flat in the first two months and BMW said it targets high single-digit sales growth in China this year, compared with a 17% gain in 2014.
China’s government has forecast economic growth of around 7% in 2015, significantly below the 10% or more annual expansion that had become ‘normal’ over the past ten years.
