China car sales fall in May

Car sales in China continued to drop in May, with about 1.913 million vehicles sold last month, down by 16.4 percent year on year, industrial data showed Wednesday.

[File Photo: IC]

Sales of passenger vehicles totaled 1.561 million, falling 17.4 percent compared with May 2018, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

Data from another industrial association also echoed the downward pressure of the auto market. Sales of passenger vehicles fell 12.5 percent from a year ago in May, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Excluding minivans, passenger car sales rose 4.8 percent from April, the largest month-on-month growth in May, CPCA data showed. Analysts attributed the monthly boost to car dealers' rush to clear inventories before new emission standards take effect in July in some regions.

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) kept growing last month, edging up 1.8 percent year on year, CPCA data showed.

China, the world's largest auto market, lost steam in 2018 with car sales dropping for the first time in over two decades.

The government earlier this month announced measures to boost car sales, such as prohibiting local governments from imposing any limit on the consumption and use of NEVs.