BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile market is expected to continue its recovery in the second half of the year, according to industry insiders quoted by Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily on Friday.
Data of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) shows that the total auto output in China reached 2.33 million units in June, up 22.5 percent year on year, while auto sales hit 2.3 million units, up 11.6 percent.
During the first half of the year, China's auto production and sales stood at 10.11 million units and 10.26 million units, down 16.8 percent and 16.9 percent year on year, respectively, but the decline further narrowed.
Industry insiders note that driven by the strong performance of the commercial vehicles, the domestic automobile market picked up steam and rebounded.
The CAAM data shows that after April, the monthly sales of commercial vehicles in June hit a record high. The production and sales of commercial vehicles in the country stood at 527,000 units and 536,000 units, respectively, up 77.9 percent and 63.1 percent year-on-year. The commercial vehicle output and sales in the first half of the year were 2.359 million units and 2.384 million units, up 9.5 percent and 8.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.
There are lots of reasons behind the robust growth in the commercial vehicle market this year. The COVID-19 outbreak has generated residents' e-commerce activities and further stimulated the logistics industry. Under such circumstances, demands for commercial vehicles, like trucks, have become strong to transport fresh food and other daily supplies, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Meanwhile, the local authorities' efforts to eliminate the vehicles failing to meet national emission standards also brought a huge increase in purchases of qualified commercial vehicles for replacement, said Cui.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the CAAM, believes that if the domestic and overseas epidemic situation is effectively controlled in the second half of the year, the auto market will continue to show stable development. It is expected that the annual vehicle sales will decline by about 10 percent. However, if the overseas epidemic situation continues to worsen, the annual vehicle sales decline may be around 20 percent.
"Overall, the association is relatively optimistic about the domestic auto market in the second half of the year," said Xu. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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