New vehicle sales in China declined by 3.6% to 2.46m units in November from already weak year earlier sales of 2.55m units, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The data includes all types of vehicles, including passenger vehicles, trucks and buses.

This was the 17th consecutive monthly decline for the vehicle wholesale market and reflected slowing economic growth in the country over the last two years and rising uncertainty resulting from China's prolonged trade war with the US and weakening global demand. GDP growth slowed to 6.0% in the third quarter, according to government data, the slowest expansion since 1992.

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In some major cities, restrictions on registrations in response to rising congestion have also held back sales this year. A surge in ride hailing services has also reduced demand for private vehicles in the country.

CAAM's deputy secretary general Chen Shihua said the earlier than required switch from China 5 to China 6 emission standards by a number of local governments also had a significant effect on the vehicle market this year. 

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), comprising mainly electric and plug in hybrid vehicles, continued to plunge last month by 43.7% to just over 95,000 units from peak volumes of 169,000 units a year earlier. This segment of the market has declined sharply since the government cut subsidies for buyers in June, reversing the strong growth seen in the first half of the year. 

In the first 11 months of the year NEV sales remained just positive at 1.04m units from 1.03m sold in the same period of last year while the overall vehicle market was down by just over 9% at 23.1m from 25.4m previously.

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