Car Sales in China Skid 18%

Retail demand for new passenger vehicles in China dropped for the sixth consecutive month in November, plunging 18% to 2.05 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Assn.

Wholesales to dealers also shrank. They fell for fifth straight month in a 14% drop to 2.54 million units, the China Assn. of Automobile Manufacturers reports. The gap between wholesale and retail volume has pushed dealer inventories of unsold cars to a record high, CPCA says.

November’s results make it certain that full-year sales in China will decline for the first time in more than 20 years.

Analysts blame the sale decline on the end of government incentives this year, weaker consumer sentiment, the trade war between China and the U.S., and growth in the popularity of ride-hailing services such as DiDi Chuxing.

General Motors Co., which reports sales figures on a quarterly basis, saw deliveries ebb for the fourth consecutive month in November, according to Automotive News China. The online newspaper says sales by GM’s venture with SAIC plunged 17% to 180,700 units. Volume for the company’s SAIC-GM-Wuling venture skidded 19% to 181,300 vehicles. GM sales through November slipped 2% to 3.64 million units.

Volkswagen AG reports its November sales slid 8% to 304,700 units. Deliveries through November totaled 2.82 million units, down less than 1% from the same period in 2017.

Geely Automobile says its deliveries in China last month rose by only 400 units to 141,700 vehicles and year-on-year results continue to narrow. Geely’s sales through November climbed 29% to surpass 1.4 million units.