Used-vehicle sales in China declined for the first time in 2020 since the China Automobile Dealers Association started tracking demand in the late 1990s.
The recovery in used sales that started in July in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak petered out toward year-end.
In December, used-vehicle deliveries edged up 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.7 million, with annual volume dipping 3.9 percent to 14.3 million.
Every segment of the used-vehicle market registered declines last year.
Demand for multi-purpose vehicles slumped 13 percent to fall short of 832,000 while deliveries of used minivans shrank 9.2 percent to about 339,000.
Sales of secondhand crossovers and SUVs fell 7.4 percent to 1.37 million while used-sedan volume slid 0.3 percent to below 8.59 million.
In the used commercial vehicle market, bus demand fell 13 percent to 1.23 million while truck sales dipped 3.1 percent to 1.33 million.
CADA didn’t disclose sales of other types of used vehicles such as pickups for last year.
Prior to 2020, the used-vehicle market had grown consistently each year. In 2019, volume rose 8 percent to exceed 14.9 million, following an 11 percent jump in 2018.
