Stockpiles at new-vehicle dealerships in China dipped to a 45-day supply in August from 53 days the previous month, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association.
Carmakers, facing pressure from dealers as new-vehicle demand continues to wane, have reduced the number of new vehicles they are dumping on retailers.
In addition, as Beijing relaxed policies on family size, more young parents were seen shopping for new vehicles at dealerships last month than in July. They need new vehicles to transport their children who were old enough to start kindergarten or school in September, the dealer group noted.
Facing an aging population, Beijing phased out a long-standing one-child policy from 2011 to 2015 to allow a married couple to have two kids.
In August, dealerships marketing domestic Chinese brands had their new-vehicle stockpiles drop to an average 55-day supply from 65 days a month earlier.
Average inventories of stores stocking domestically built foreign mass-market brands decreased to 42 days from 50 days in July.
And the backlog at dealerships distributing luxury brands and imported foreign brands slid to 39 days from 40 days in the previous month.
