BEIJING: China’s auto market is likely to shrink for the third consecutive year in 2020, the country’s top auto body said on Monday, with industry watchers hoping a sales recovery in lower-tier cities help ease the pace of decline.That would compare with 8.2% last year when sales were pressured by new emission standards in a shrinking economy that was contending with tit-for-tat import tariffs with the United States.
“The easing of trade tensions between China and the United States has also helped restore consumer confidence,” said Kang, who expects China car sales to grow 0.05% this year. Executives at automakers such as Geely and Ford Motor Co partner Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd have said they expect fiercer competition to weed out weaker players.
The latest fall, however, was slower than the 37% weathered in 2018, and the automaker said it saw its market share stabilise in the high-to-premium segment.“We expect the market downturn to continue in 2020, and anticipate ongoing headwinds in our China business,” Matt Tsien, president of GM China, said last week as the U.S. automaker reported a 15% drop in 2019 China sales.