(Bloomberg) -- China’s car market, the world’s largest, probably hit a bottom last month and is set to gradually recover as the spread of the coronavirus slows and consumers return to shopping, an auto industry group said.
Demand is expected to recover starting this month and the industry may reach its “normal level” in the third quarter, Xu Haidong, a vice chief engineer at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told media in Beijing on Thursday.
Sales will “definitely rebound” in March, Xu said.
The virus has intensified headwinds for the industry also hit by a slowing economy and trade tensions. Car sales in China were heading for an unprecedented third straight annual decline even before the outbreak forced authorities to lock down the epicenter of Wuhan and other cities.
Sales from manufacturers to dealerships slumped 82% to 224,000 cars in China last month, a level last seen in 2005, CAAM said, echoing numbers reported by another industry group earlier this week.
CAAM urged the government to roll out policies to help the industry, including tax rebates, an extension to purchase subsidies beyond 2020 and a delay to the implementation of more stringent, so-called China VI emission standards.
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