BEIJING— Vehicles sales in China, the world’s largest auto market, fell 14.6 percent in April from the same month a year earlier, the country’s biggest auto industry association said on May 13, marking the 10th consecutive month of decline.
Sales fell to 1.98 million vehicles, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Automakers have been lowering prices in China after the government introduced tax cuts to spur consumer spending. CAAM officials said customers were nevertheless holding off purchases in the hope of more favorable policies, hurting sales.
April’s sales also suffered from some Chinese provinces implementing new vehicle emission standards earlier than expected, which stoked uncertainty among manufacturers, according to CAAM, analysts, dealers and consumers. All light vehicles are required to adhere to tougher “China VI” emission standards by 2020 as part of efforts to combat pollution.
Tariff Impact
While overall auto sales are declining, Toyota Motor Corp reported around 20 percent growth last month with the help of revamped models of both its Toyota- and Lexus-branded models.Conversely, SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, a Chinese partner of Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co, said group sales fell 16.8 percent last month.
“Japanese car makers have products that are better prepared for a switch in emission standard. At the same time they are offering more affordable products,” CAAM’s Xu said.
Xu said recent escalation in the trade war between China and the United States, which has seen the U.S. raise import tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, is likely to have significant impact on China’s exports of car parts.
Senior automotive executives attending the Shanghai autoshow last month said the days of high single- or double-digit growth in China’s auto market were over and that industry consolidation was likely.
