China auto sales fall 6.9% in August, 14th month of decline
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Total auto sales fell 6.9 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Wednesday.
Auto sales in China fell for a 14th consecutive month in August, with the number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) sold contracting for the second month in a row, data from the country's biggest auto industry association showed.
Total auto sales fell 6.9 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Wednesday.
That followed declines of 4.3 per cent in July and 9.6 per cent in June, as well as the first annual contraction last year since the 1990s against a backdrop of slowing economic growth and a crippling trade war with the United States.
Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell 15.8 per cent in August, CAAM said, following a 4.7 per cent fall in July - their first decline since January 2017. NEV sales jumped almost 62 per cent last year even as the broader auto market contracted.
NEVs include plug-in hybrids, battery-only electric vehicles and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
China has been a keen supporter of NEVs and has implemented sales quota requirements for automakers.