China's car sales extend slide in June on lacklustre consumer demand
A vehicle inventory alert index rises 8 percentage points to an alarming 62.3% in June, spotlighting consumer demand weakness
CHINA’S June car sales fell 6.9 per cent from a year earlier, extending declines for a third straight month as government incentives failed to spur consumer demand in a sputtering economic recovery.
Passenger vehicle sales totalled about 1.8 million in June, with the pace of decline picking up from a 2.2 per cent drop in May and a 5.8 per cent fall in April, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data showed on Monday (Jul 8).
A cut-throat price war since 2023 helped to lift China vehicle sales earlier in the year but is having less effect in recent months despite fresh government subsidies for trading in cars, which were announced in April.
For the first half overall, China’s car sales were up 2.9 per cent at about 9.9 million vehicles.
June sales of so-called new energy vehicles including pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids accounted for a record 48.1 per cent of domestic car sales.
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD and relative newcomers such as Nio, Zeekr and Leapmotor all logged record monthly sales.
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Overall growth in electric vehicle sales cooled to 9.9 per cent from 27.4 per cent in May while sales of plug-in hybrids jumped 67.2 per cent, up from a 61.1 per cent increase the previous month.
June car exports were up 28 per cent year on year, against a 23 per cent gain in May, separate data from the CPCA showed.
The trend for exports could weaken, however, after the European Commission last week confirmed provisional import tariffs of up to 37.6 per cent on Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles.
US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla exported 11,746 Chinese-made vehicles in June, its lowest since October 2022.
Underscoring weakness in consumer demand, a vehicle inventory alert index compiled by the China Automobile Dealers Association rose by about eight percentage points year on year to an alarming 62.3 per cent in June. REUTERS
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