Passenger car sales fall 80% in China

Beijing – New car and light-truck deliveries in China plunged 82% to 224,000 in February as a result of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak in the country.

To contain the epidemic, Beijing extended the lunar New Year holiday by an extra week to 9 Feb, and barred automakers from resuming production before 10 March in hot zone Hubei, a major Chinese hub for car and auto parts output.  

In the first two months, industry-wide new light-vehicle sales fell 44% to 1.83 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.

Sales of new commercial vehicles including trucks and buses slumped 67% to around 86,000. Through February, new commercial-vehicle deliveries slipped 33% to roughly 407,000. 

As a result, total new-vehicle sales in China fell 79% to about 310,000 in February, with year-to-date volume dropping 42% to 2.24 million. 

EV sales 

New electrified-vehicle deliveries also shrank in tandem with the overall market, according to the trade group. 

In February, combined sales of electrified vehicles tumbled 75% to 12,908. The number includes 10,680 EVs and 2,228 plug-in hybrids. No fuel cell vehicles were sold during the month.

In the first two months, total electrified-vehicle sales slipped 60% to 59,705. The tally includes 44,557 EVs, 14,977 plug-in hybrids and 171 fuel cell vehicles. 

In January, CAAM predicted total auto sales in China this year would drop 2% from 2019. 

The trade group, citing fluid market conditions, declined to provide a revised forecast while releasing February sales results at a press conference in Beijing.

"Due to the coronavirus epidemic,” Assistant Secretary-General Xu Haidong said, “the annual sales [decline] will be steeper than our previous forecast if the government doesn't roll out incentive policies."