China’s passenger-vehicle sales fell for the first time in more than two years as the nation’s economic growth slowed and a stock market rout dented buying sentiment.
Retail deliveries of cars, multipurpose vehicles and sport utility vehicles (SUV) declined 3.2 percent last month from a year earlier to 1.43 million units, the China Passenger Car Association said yesterday on its Web site.
Sales last fell in February 2013, the group said.
Automakers including Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co, which count China as their largest market, have cut prices to defend market share, as demand slows and domestic rivals lure increasingly value-conscious customers with cheaper SUVs. A record rally in Chinese stocks turned into a rout last month, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunging more than 30 percent since June 12.
“Judging from the momentum, the second half is not looking too optimistic,” said John Zeng (曾志凌), Shanghai-based managing director at researcher LMC Automotive Asia Pacific Forecasting. “The growth slowdown will continue. Automakers will be more cautious in terms of production.”
Passenger-vehicle deliveries rose 8.4 percent in the first six months of the year, the association said, led by a 57 percent gain in SUV demand. Sales of sedans, the biggest category, fell 3 percent.
The slowdown in China is narrowing the growth gap with developed nations such as the US, where deliveries increased 4.4 percent in the first half.
The three-week slump in Chinese equities is acting like a “meat grinder” for auto demand, with consumers canceling purchases, association secretary-general Cui Dongshu (崔東樹) said.
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