China's May vehicle sales fall 12.6%, industry body says (updated)

China First Capital

10/06/2022 09:02

(Adds other sales data details)
    SHANGHAI, June 10 (Reuters) - China's auto sales fell 12.6%
in May from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, but the
extent of the decline improved from April's falls as authorities
rolled out stimulus to support a market depressed by the
country's COVID-19 lockdowns.
    Overall sales in the world's biggest car market fell to 1.86
million vehicles in May, data from the China Association of
Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.
    However, May sales rose 57.6% month-on-month from April,
when the market was badly hit by COVID-19 lockdowns in several
cities and saw sales that month almost halve year-on-year. 
    Sales in the first five months were 12.2% lower from the
same period in 2021, CAAM said. 
    China's auto sector has been hit hard in recent months by
China's efforts to combat Omicron this year, which saw the
country put many parts of the country including Shanghai under
stringent lockdown.
    Authorities are trying various incentives to revive the
market, with the latest being a halving of the purchase tax for
cars priced at no more than 300,000 yuan ($45,000) and with
2.0-litre or smaller engines to 5% of the sticker price from
June 1.
    The move could lead to an increase of 2 million extra car
sales this year, according to the China Passenger Car
Association (CPCA), another industry body. 
    The country's most congested cities, including Shanghai and
Shenzhen, have increased car ownership quotas while local
governments are also subsidising people who exchange their old
combustion cars for new electric ones. 
    May sales of new energy vehicles, which include
battery-powered electric vehicles, plug-in petrol-electric
hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, rose 49.6%
month-on-month. 
    A separate data report of from the CPCA on Thursday said
that sales of passenger vehicles in May fell 17% from the same
period a year ago.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N2XF020
    CAAM tracks a broader range of sales data from manufacturers
including commercial vehicles such as trucks while CPCA focuses
on retail sales of passenger cars.

 (Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh
Editing by David Goodman and David Evans)
 ((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86 (0) 21 2083 0088; Reuters
Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))