Auto production, sales in China dips to 4.4 per cent in May

BEIJING: Automobile production and sales in China dropped 4.4 per cent in May , marking the second month-on-month decline in a row in the world's biggest automobile market, an industry group said today.

Last month auto production in the world's second largest economy dropped 4.4 per cent from a month earlier to 1.98 million units, while sales declined 4.6 per cent to 1.91 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement.

On a year-on-year basis, production in May rose 11 per cent and sales increased 8.5 per cent, the CAAM said.

In the first five months of this year, auto production rose 9.4 per cent year on year to 9.93 million units, while sales grew by 9 per cent to 9.84 million vehicles.

Both paces slowed down from the same period last year. The drops last month were largely due to plunges in the commercial vehicle market.

Output and sales of commercial vehicles were both down by more than 18 per cent month on month in May, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 3.06 million passenger cars of domestic brands were sold in the first five months, up by 0.94 per cent from a year earlier.

Home brands accounted for 37.97 per cent of total passenger car sales, down 3.83 percentage points from the same period last year.

Exports by Chinese auto makers continued to drop, with 76,300 vehicles exported in May, down 12 per cent from a year earlier. In the first five months, total exports dropped 9.8 per cent from the same period last year to 363,300 units, CAAM said.

China has remained the world's largest auto market and producer for five consecutive years, with production and sales both exceeding 20 million units for the first time in 2013.