Volvo recorded robust sales growth for the second straight month in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Volvo said its China deliveries jumped 22 percent to 15,132 in May after rising 21 percent the previous month.

The timing for the Wuling-badged minitruck’s arrival in the market couldn’t be better. The vehicle is meant specifically to support the “stall economy,” SAIC-GM-Wuling said on its social media site.

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. 

Plans to bring the Zotye brand to the U.S. have been iced, leaving money-losing Chery as the only Chinese automaker with any near-term prospects.

Chinese electric vehicle startup Aiways has begun shipping 500 electric vehicles to the French island of Corse as part of efforts to explore the European market. 

Mazda Motor Corp. is resuming new-product launches in China after a two-year interval. The Mazda CX-30 will go on sale next week as the Japanese carmaker’s fifth crossover in the market. 

Volvo Car Corp., tapping China as a key export hub, launched shipments of the XC40 compact crossovers to South Africa. The vehicles are scheduled to dock at South Africa’s Durpan port in mid-June, Volvo’s China sales company said. 

New-vehicle demand softened in the first 20 days of May after a modest rebound in April, underscoring the halting recovery the industry faces as consumers hunker down following the COVID-19 outbreak, even with widespread discounts and promotions.

The Chinese government's handling of its two most important annual political meetings in Beijing this week may offer some clues on how major auto shows will be staged in coming months. 

Geely Automobile Holdings has launched direct vehicle sales through an upstart third-party digital channel.

The coronavirus outbreak has inspired SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, General Motors’ light-vehicle joint venture with SAIC, to find a practical new use for a two-seat electric car. 

China's auto industry, the first to encounter the coronavirus outbreak, is coming back, but in fits and starts, with a few green shoots to show.

The coronavirus pandemic is upending automakers in China, where sales are on track to fall for a third-straight year, while also paving the way for consolidation in the country’s highly fragmented passenger vehicle manufacturing sector. 

MG, the British car brand famous for the Midget sports car and now owned by SAIC Motor Corp., is expanding into a key European market with an electric crossover despite the coronavirus pandemic.