Overall new-vehicle sales in China lost steam in the first 20 days of last month, after maintaining growth since April, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.
During the 20 days, aggregate new-vehicle deliveries of 11 major domestic auto manufacturers and all foreign automakers producing in China, which account for nearly all vehicle output, declined 4.2 percent year on year to roughly 939,000 units.
The volume was dragged down by weaker demand for light vehicles, according to numbers the industry body released Tuesday.
In the 20-day period, sales of light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, MPVs and minibuses dropped 7.9 percent to some 825,000 units.
By contrast, deliveries of commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks surged 36 percent to about 114,000, according to the trade group.
The 11 major Chinese automakers are: SAIC Motor Corp., Dongfeng Motor Group, China FAW Group, Changan Automobile Co., GAC Motor Co., Brilliance China Automotive, Jianghuai Automobile Co., Chery Automobile Co., Geely Automobile Holdings, Great Wall Motor Co. and BYD Co.
In July, new-vehicle sales in China rebounded for the fourth straight month, advancing 16 percent year on year to top 2.1 million, after the viral outbreak was largely contained in mid-March.
Yet, due to a 42 percent plunge caused by the outbreak in the first quarter, industry-wide deliveries through July fell 13 percent to below 12.4 million.
For the first seven months, commercial-vehicle sales rose 14 percent to top 2.8 million while light-vehicle deliveries slumped 18 percent to 9.5 million.
Last month, the industry association predicted new-vehicle sales in China would contract for the third consecutive year in 2020. It expected the annual volume to decline at least 10 percent from 2019.
