Car production in China could be reduced by 15% due to coronavirus
"We expect that the production of cars in China for the full year will be reduced by 3% in the first quarter production will be reduced by 15%, including due to prolonged closure of factories", - said Joseph Massaro, chief financial officer of the supplier of automotive technologies Aptiv.
delayed production can be made up in the second quarter. "Currently, we do not consider this as a problem a full year," says Massaro.
Previously reported that the largest automakers in China, planned to stop Assembly lines until February 10.
Dongshu Tsui, General Secretary of the Chinese passenger car Association (CPCA), said that his growth forecast to 1% this year now seems to have been "under some pressure".
Extending the Christmas holidays deterred dealers from ordering cars at the end of the month, as is usually done, virtually guaranteeing a decrease in sales in January. "We will inevitably see a significant drop in sales," says Tsui.
However, there are analysts who believe that the situation with sales of cars can turn in the direction of significant growth of demand. For example, Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai consulting company AutoForesight, believes that restrictions on travel on public transport, may encourage Chinese citizens to buy personal vehicles.
According to various estimates, China has about 170 vehicles per 1,000 people compared with 800 per 1,000 in the United States.