New Year holiday puts dent in January sales
Due to the weeklong Chinese holiday in January, sales of light vehicles fell nearly 24 percent year-on-year to some 1.2 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
In 2011, the lunar New Year was in February. This year, it was in January, which meant fewer operating days for dealerships.
Sales of Chinese brands slumped nearly 31 percent year-on-year, according to CAAM's statistics. Ford Motor Co., Mercedes-Benz and General Motors also announced a sales downturn for the month. (See related story in this newsletter.)
Sales declined in all major product segments. Deliveries of cars and SUVs dropped 26 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, sales of MPVs and microvans fell 23 percent and 24 percent from the same period a year earlier.
China's sales of commercial trucks and buses tumbled 37 percent from a year earlier to some 229,200 units.
