China auto post double drop in April

According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, production and sales of cars fell significantly in April compared with March. The volume of production is 2.1384 million vehicles, a decrease of 17.88% compared with last month, and a decrease of 1.91% compared with last year; the volume of sales is 2.084 million vehicles, a decrease of 18.05% compared with 18.05%, and a decrease of 2.24% compared with last year.

From January to April, growth of production and sales of cars slow down compared with the first quarter, while commercial vehicles continued to grow at a faster rate. The volume of cars' production and sales are 9.2715 million vehicles and 9.086 million vehicles respectively, a year-on-year increase of 5.38% and 4.58%. The volume of passenger cars' production and sales are 7.892 million vehicles and 7.6698 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 4.18% and 2.47% respectively. For commercial vehicles, they are 1.3813 million vehicles and 1.1462 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 12.79% and 17.72% respectively.

Experts analyze that the double drop in production and sales can be attributed to the weak demand in the terminal market. "Cooling is the trend in auto market. Since December in last year, purchase tax has been raised to 7.5% from 5%. Besides, every April will experience a low sales. Therefore, this data is understandable.”Ye Shengji said, Deputy Secretary-General of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Data shows that increase can be seen in auto enterprises' inventories. Chen Shihua, assistant of Secretary-General of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that inventories rose compared to the same period last year, which indicated that enterprises are now more cautious. As for the future trend, Ye Shengji said that taking into account last year's overdraft of car consumption demand, this year's annual production and sales growth is expected to be 5%.