Auto sales in China plummeted a yearly 43 percent in March, figures showed on Friday as the world's largest car market faces tough hurdles following a prolonged downturn in demand aggravated by an ongoing pandemic.
The twenty first month of straight retreat was less heavy compared to data in February, when revenue dropped almost 80 percent as the virus crippled demand.
Sales plunged 1.40 million vehicles from the same period last year, numbers from the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM), the country's biggest automobile industry organization, showed.
A recovery is expected in the second half of the year, thanks to the successive support and promotion strategies, CAAM said.
On Thursday, China announced four new local COVID-19 cases and companies are returning to normal, motivated by government initiatives.
China reported 81,907 cases of infection, while 3,336 people have perished from the coronavirus since it was first identified in Wuhan in December of last year.
There are currently 1,398 confirmed infections in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, while 380 such cases have been registered in Taiwan, Chinese health officials said. In Hong Kong and Taiwan nine people died.
BAIC Group, which produces electric cars in China, announced earlier this week that its sales were down 60 percent year-on-year to 5,992 units in March. BYD Auto Co. announced Wednesday selling 12,256 units, down 70 percent year-on-year.
Local authorities have stepped up efforts to boost or normalize profits, with areas that depend largely on auto manufacturing, such as Ningbo in the east and Guangzhou in the south.
CAAM also said a study of 204 bases for automotive manufacturing showed a production recovery rate of 99.5 percent following closures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus. It said 86 percent of staff came back to work.
Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. announced 10,000 units sold in China in March, while total electric car deliveries in the country were about 47,000 units, the China Passenger Car Association said. Tesla shares closed on Thursday at $573 per share, up 4.40 percent.
In a statement Tuesday, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer NIO Ltd. said its vehicle deliveries last month have doubled from February to 1,533. NIO stock slipped almost 3 percent to $2.67 per ADS on Thursday.
CAAM said that if the epidemic were effectively controlled before April, car sales are likely to drop by more than 10 percent in the first half of the year, and about 5 percent for the whole year.
Overall China's car sales fell 8.2 per cent last year, under pressure from new emission standards in a slowing economy as well as trade friction with the US.
