According to statistics from a report appearing in the National Business Daily today, Chinese automobile imports fell 57 percent in February, totaling 62,000 vehicles, while consumer end-sales decreased 32 percent, totaling 60,000 units. The fall in import automobile sales is a trend that already begun in January. Automobile imports and sales for the first two months of the year were both down nearly 20 percent from the previous year.
Looking specifically at different segments, over 20,000 import sedans were imported in February. Meanwhile, growth rates for import SUVs continued to decline in both January and February, while growth rates of import minivans grew in February.
China Automobile Trading Senior Manager Wang Cun explained the factors behind the decline in import sales last month: “Currently the Chinese automobiles market is in a state of extensive reorganization. On top of that, there are a low number of working days in February, which further contributed to the decline in automobile imports.”
Decreasing growth rates in the automobile market are supplemented by an increasing number of models to choose from, meaning the automobile market is much more competitive than before. This has put a lot of pressure on top tier companies like Audi and BMW, which now have to deal with competition from manufacturers like Land Rover and Jeep.
