CPCA: China’s passenger car sales dropped 78.5% YoY in February

SHANGHAI, Mar 9 (SMM) – China’s passenger car sales tumbled last month, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Monday that retail sales of sedans, multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in China stood at 252,308 units in February, down 85.3% from a month earlier and 78.5% from a year earlier.

The year-over-year decline was based on an extremely low statistical base as sales in February 2019 was affected by the Lunar New Year holiday, the auto industry association noted.  

Sales in the first two months of 2020 came in at 1.97 million units, down 41% from the same period last year.

In February, wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China were 11,000 units, down 77.7% year on year and 70% month on month.

The industry body also slashed its car sales growth forecasts for 2020 to a negative 8%, from a positive 1% estimated late last year.