China’s September passenger car sales rise for third straight month, as consumers put Covid-19 firmly in their rear-view mirrors
- Deliveries of passenger cars rose 7.4 per cent in September to 1.94 million units, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) says
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China’s passenger car sales grew for a third straight month in September, and industry insiders said they foresaw a sustained increase in sales during the remainder of the year after the country successfully contained its Covid-19 outbreak.
Deliveries of passenger cars, which include sedans, sport-utility vehicles, minivans and multipurpose vehicles, rose 7.4 per cent year on year to 1.94 million units last month, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Deliveries of passenger vehicles to dealers rose 8 per cent to 2.088 million units, according to a separate set of data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), a carmaker’s guild.
“Pent-up demand is being released,” Tian Maowei, a sales manager at Yiyou Auto Service in Shanghai, said. “Those who delayed their car purchases in the first half of this year are coming back.”
The sector took a beating from the pandemic – production and sales nearly halted in February this year because of lockdown measures introduced to fight Covid-19. The market saw its first ray of hope in the second half, after Beijing successfully contained the outbreak and commercial activities returned to normal.
Industry insiders said they expected sales to remain buoyant in the fourth quarter as well, amid increasing demand from drivers.
