New passenger vehicle sales in China continued to decline in November, by 4.2% to 1.97 million units from 2.06 million units in the same month of last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The data includes retail sales of passenger cars, SUVs, minivans and multipurpose vehicles. Later in the week, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) is scheduled to release its monthly wholesale data, which also includes commercial vehicles.
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The CPCA pointed out that the market is heading for its second straight year of decline this year, with sales having fallen for seventeen of the last eighteen months. Economic growth in the country slowed over the last two years, reflecting rising uncertainty resulting from China’s prolonged trade war with the USA and weakening global demand.
GDP growth slowed to 6.0% in the third quarter, according to government data, the slowest expansion since 1992. In some major cities, restrictions on registrations in response to rising congestion have also held back sales this year. A surge in ride-hailing service companies has also reduced demand for private vehicles in the country.
In the first eleven months of the year passenger vehicle sales were down by around 8% at 18.8 million units, after declining by 5.8% to 22.35 million units in the whole of 2018.
See also: Global vehicle market subdued – Q3 analysis
