Chinese Auto Sales Slow Down in February

China’s auto sales growth decelerated in February despite a near doubling in purchases of Chinese-made SUVs, an industry group reported Tuesday.

Sales in world’s biggest auto market rose 6.4 percent to 1.4 million vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That was down from January’s 10.3 percent expansion.

Demand for autos has weakened as China’s economic growth cooled to a two-decade low last year of 7.4 percent. February sales also were depressed by the Lunar New Year holiday, when many businesses close for up to two weeks.

For the combined two-month period of January and February, passenger vehicle sales rose 8.7 percent from a year earlier to 3.4 million units. Total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose 4.3 percent, which CAAM said represented a decline of 6.5 percentage points from the growth rate the same time last year.

Global automakers see China as a future revenue driver and are investing heavily to create models to appeal to local tastes. That is squeezing domestic brands such as Geely, Chery and Great Wall.

Sales of Chinese-brand SUVs jumped 94.7 percent in February to 187,000 vehicles. That helped to offset a 3.3 percent decline in domestic sedan sales to 174,000 vehicles. Last year, sales of Chinese sedans slumped 17.4 percent.

CAAM said Chinese automakers gained market share in February, reversing a steady decline, but gave no details. Last year, their market share fell by 2.1 percentage points to 41.2 percent.

via Mainichi

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