China car sales fall for first time in 20 years

BEIJING: China’s annual passenger car sales fell last year for the first time in more than 20 years as the trade war with the US rocked consumer confidence and Beijing reined in car financing channels.

Passenger car sales fell to 22.4 million vehicles in 2018, down 5.8 per cent from a year earlier, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Wednesday.

In December sales plummeted 19.2 per cent from a year earlier, the CPCA said.

The slumping market has hit China’s manufacturing sector, which contracted last month for the first time in more than two years, according to official data.

Beijing’s bruising trade war with Washington comes as it grapples with a slowing domestic economy — growth is expected to have eased to around 6.5 per cent in 2018, down from 6.9 per cent in 2017. — AFP