Mazda's China sales plunge 29% in February
Mazda Motor Corp. says its February sales in China plunged 29 percent year-on-year to 9,033 units, as a higher sales tax on small cars hurt the company's sales.
In January, the central government raised the tax on small cars from 7.5 percent to 10 percent. Mazda says the higher tax hurt sales of the Mazda2 and Mazda3.
A Mazda spokesman in Shanghai says the company also was hurt by the Beijing municipal government's decision to restrict car sales within the city. Beijing accounts for 14 percent of Mazda's sales in China.
In the first two months of the year, Mazda sold 29,074 vehicles in China, down 8 percent, according to data released by the company's Shanghai office.
Mazda's three-way joint venture with Ford Motor Co. and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. produces the Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda6 and Mazda8 MPV in China.
