China Car Sales Keep Shrinking, Intensifying Automakers’ Woes

(Bloomberg) -- China’s automobile deliveries continued to shrink last month, extending the market’s historic decline.

Sales of sedans, sport utility vehicles, minivans and multipurpose vehicles in July fell 3.9% from a year earlier to 1.53 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Monday. That is the 13th consecutive monthly decline.

The first car slump in a generation is showing no signs of easing as the Chinese economy faces a slowdown and stricter emissions rules and the trade war weigh on demand. Carmakers that relied on the world’s largest auto market for growth for decades, pouring billions of dollars into the country, are now left questioning future investment decisions.

President Donald Trump said this month that the U.S. will impose a 10% additional tariff on another $300 billion worth of Chinese exports starting next month, after the two sides ended their first face-to-face talks in three months without progress. The International Monetary Fund said the spat is set to reduce China’s economic growth and lead to “significant negative spillovers globally.”

Retail sales of cars in China fell for the 13th time in the past 14 months in July, plunging 5.3%, the China Passenger Car Association said last week. Unlike PCA figures, CAAM’s numbers detail deliveries made to dealerships, not end consumers.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Tian Ying in Beijing at ytian@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen

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With assistance from Bloomberg