SHANGHAI, Jun 9 (SMM) – China’s passenger car sales rose for the first time in almost a year in May, as the auto market rebounded from the coronavirus crisis with support from recovering demand and government stimulus measures, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on June 8. 

Retail sales of sedans, multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and mini buses increased 1.9% year on year and 12.3% month on month to 1.64 million units in May, showed data from the industry association.

The accumulative retail sales of passenger vehicles in the first five months of the year stood at 6.05 million units, down 26%, or 2.16 million units from the same period last year, due to the impact of an earlier-than-usual Chinese New Year holiday and the coronavirus outbreak. 

SMM expects stimulus policies from local governments to continue to prop up demand and support passenger car retail sales in June, before seasonality weighs on the sales in July and August. Significant growth in demand is expected in September.