Sales rebound gathers pace in May

The rebound in new-vehicle sales accelerated in May, with volume rising nearly 12 percent from a year earlier, helped by heavy marketing promotions, incentives and pent-up demand.

Roughly 2.14 million new vehicles were delivered across the country last month, according to estimates from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released Tuesday. 

CAAM said the sales figures are based on data it  collected from key companies, without giving further details.

The market has now grown two consecutive months after 21 straight months of decline. 

In April, industry-wide sales gained 4.4 percent to 2.07 million.

With the coronavirus pandemic ravaging China from late January to early March, new-vehicle deliveries tumbled 42 percent in the first quarter. 

In the first five months, China’s new-vehicle sales declined 23 percent to roughly 7.9 million, according to CAAM estimates. 

And analysts expect the market, the world’s largest, to decline for a third consecutive year in 2020.  

CAAM cautioned last month that even if China contains the outbreak effectively, the country’s auto sales are expected to drop 15 percent this year, from over 25 million vehicles in 2019. If the pandemic continues, the annual sales contraction will likely be up to 25 percent.

Reuters contributed to this report.