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The stand of the Chinese manufacturer BAIC at the IEEV New Energy Vehicles exhibition in Beijing, October 18, 2018. REUTERS / Thomas Peter

For the second year in a row, personal vehicle sales fell in China. In 2019, they fell 7.4% compared to 2018. And pessimism reigns for this year in the world's largest automotive market.

Several factors explain these bad figures for the automobile industry of the Middle Empire: the slowdown of the Chinese economy , the reduction of government subsidies for electric vehicles and trade tensions with the United States.

As a result, sales of personal vehicles fell by almost 7.5%, an even steeper drop than in 2018. The decline in the market did not affect all car manufacturers. Those who have lost market share are the Chinese and American manufacturers, while those who have experienced increasing sales are the Japanese and German brands.

For this year, analysts still forecast a decline in sales, but less marked. There are two reasons for this: the renewal of the range of local manufacturers and the prospect of easing trade tensions with the United States.

Next Wednesday, Washington and Beijing will sign a partial agreement , which marks a truce in the trade war.