In the first nine months of 2019, sales of passenger cars in China decreased by almost 12% to 15.2 million units. This is reported by Ukrautoprom with reference to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers ( CAAM).
In September 2019, 1.9 million passenger cars were sold in China, resulting in a 6.3% decrease in demand for cars. The negative dynamics has been recorded for the fifteenth month in a row.
The reason for this situation, experts say, is a slowdown in economic growth and trade disputes with the United States. In addition, sales were influenced by the introduction of new emission standards in 15 cities and provinces in China ahead of schedule by the central government.
Despite this, China continues to be the world's largest automotive market. According to the CAAM forecast, in 2019, sales in the Chinese car market could decrease by 5% compared to last year, when 23.79 million units of passenger cars were sold.
The auto industry is the largest consumer of steel on the market along with the construction industry, and the situation in this area directly affects the performance of the metallurgical industry. For 2019 profitability of Chinese steel companies decreased by almost 5 times and is at one of the lowest levels in the last 5 years.
