SHANGHAI, Mar 5 (SMM) – China’s passenger car retail sales could plunge 80% on a yearly basis in February, the biggest decline in over two decades, according to a preliminary estimate by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on March 4.  

Retail sales of automobiles in the first two months of 2020 are expected to fall 41% from a year earlier, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic and an early Chinese New Year holiday, said CPCA. 

The estimated year-on-year decline in January-February was also the steepest in 20 years. 

According to CPCA data, daily retail sales of passenger vehicles in China averaged 16,000 units in the fourth week of February (February 24-29), down 63% from the same period last year. 

Daily average passenger car retail sales in the first, second and third weeks of February stood at 811 units, 4,100 units and 5,411 units, respectively, down 96%, 89% and 83% year on year.