China’s June passenger car sales are expected to drop 5.9% compared with last year’s post-lockdown surge, with activity in the world’s largest auto market remaining bumpy.
(Bloomberg) — China’s June passenger car sales are expected to drop 5.9% compared with last year’s post-lockdown surge, with activity in the world’s largest auto market remaining bumpy.
The Passenger Car Association estimated that June retail car deliveries will be about 1.83 million units, compared with 1.94 million from the same month in 2022, and still beat the full-year sales in markets such as the UK and Canada. The decrease is due to the high rate from a year earlier, when pent up demand was unleashed after the Shanghai lockdown ended in May 2022, according to the association.
Sales in China were down year-on-year through April, when deliveries finally surged in contrast to the Covid-crimped demand when pandemic restrictions weighed on new purchases. Overall, car deliveries grew 4.2% in the first five months of this year compared to 2022, a modest increase considering that a price war has slashed the cost of some models by up to 40%.
Price War Squeezes Chinese Carmakers With No Relief in Sight
To boost the auto industry and the adoption of electric vehicles, Beijing has launched a six-month drive to get car sales moving, promoted EVs in rural areas and extended a tax break for clean car purchases until 2027.
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