China’s September auto sales increased 2.5% from a year earlier, its slowest pace in 19 months, dragged down by sluggish sales of commercial vehicles such as trucks.
Vehicles sales totalled 1.98 million units last month, says the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Passenger vehicle sales rose 6.4% while commercial vehicle sales slumped 16%.
During the first nine months of 2014, China’s vehicle sales rose 7% from a year earlier. CAAM has forecast that the market will expand 8.3% this year, slowing from last year’s 13.9% pace.
“China already has a huge auto market, and with more cities expected to restrict auto sales to fight pollution, it’s natural for growth to slow down,” Li Xiangfeng, an analyst at Shanghai-based consultancy ISE told Reuters.
“The market cannot grow at double-digit pace forever,” he says, adding that the slump in commercial vehicle sales might be cased by a slowing economy.
In September, Japanese carmakers Nissan Motor and Honda Motor both posted their third consecutive monthly decline in China sales, registering decreases of 20 %and 23% respectively.
Nissan attributed the decline to sluggish sales of commercial vehicles and increased competition while Honda says dealers have been clearing inventory ahead of the launch of two new models later this year.
On the other hand, sales of German brands have continued to be robust. Premium carmaker BMW posted 17.9% growth during the first nine months while Daimler AG’s Mercedes Benz said its China sales jumped 30.5% in September.
Volkswagen AG’s premium brand Audi posted a 13% increase in China sales in September.
Join the conversation