China’s car sales rose by 14.5pc in May to 2.19mn units from the prior-year period and by 5.9pc from the prior month. The country’s auto sector is showing signs of recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). In Jan-May 2020, however, sales dropped by 22.6pc to 7.96mn units.
The country’s output and sales have registered double-digit growth in May and production stood at 2.187mn, up by 18.2pc from May 2019. In Jan-May 2020, the cumulative production stood at 7.787mn units, down by 24.1pc and sales were 7.957mn units, down by 22.6pc from the prior-year period.
China’s ministry of commerce attributes sales and production growth in May to their effective COVID-19 preventive measures and orderly resumption of production. The ministry spokesperson, Gao Feng, however, belives demand in international markets will be delayed.
Category wise production and sales
Passenger cars produced in May were 1.6mn units, up by 11.2pc from the prior-year period. Around 1.674mn units were sold in the month, up by 7pc from the same period last year. In Jan-May period, the output and sales, however, dropped by 29.1pc and 27.4pc to 5.955mn units and 6.109mn units, respectively. SUVs sales in May 2020 rose by 47pc from May 2019.
Around 179,000 heavy-duty and 215,000 light-duty trucks were sold in May, a rise of 65.6pc and 43.4pc, respectively, from May 2019.
Commercial vehicles produced were 527,000 in May, up by 47.7pc from the year prior. In Jan-May 2020, 1.83mn commercial vehicles were produced, down by 1.4pc from the prior-year period.
Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plugin Hybrids produced were 84,000 in May, down by 25.8pc from last year. Sales in Jan- May stood at 295,000 units, down by 39.7pc compared to the prior-year period.
In Jan-May, the top 10 automotive companies in the country held 89pc share in market sales which stood at 7.08mn units.
Despite a rise in sales, the ministry states that the current global epidemic scenario is still grim and clouds of uncertainty hovering over trade.