China vehicle sales fell for the first time in more than two years

China’s general vehicle sales of the first half of 2015 fell for the first time in more than two years as the nation’s economic growth lost steam and the stock-market rout discouraged purchasing desire.

Retail deliveries of cars, multipurpose vehicles and SUVs fell 3.2 percent in June from a year earlier to 1.43 million units, the China Passenger Car Association said today on its website.

According to statistics released by China Association of Automobile Manufactures, though the country made a good start in January with new vehicle sales increasing 7.6%, it ended badly with sales falling 0.4% in May both on a year-on-year basis. Besides, the year-on-year growth extend for March was 3.3%, falling 5.9 percentage points from that of year earlier.

The accumulative new vehicle sales and output year-to-May were respectively 10.24 million and 10.0 million, increasing 3.2% and 2.1% compared with the same period of last year, but falling 6.2 and 6.9 percentage points on a year-on-year basis.

Carmakers including Volkswagen AG and General Motors, which count China as their largest market, have cut prices to defend market share as demand slows and domestic rivals lure increasingly value-conscious customers with cheaper SUVs. A record surge in China’s stocks turned into a rout last month, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunging more than 30 percent since June 12.