German carmakers warn virus to shrink China market

China's car market could shrink up to seven percent year-on-year in 2020 as the effects of the novel coronavirus outbreak bite, Germany's VDA manufacturers' association said Thursday.

"It was a weak start to the year," VDA president Hildegard Mueller told a Berlin press conference, noting that sales in the first two weeks of February were down 92 percent.

"Even before the coronavirus crisis, we expected a fall of two percent in the Chinese market, and we are now assuming a scenario with a drop of up to seven percent," Mueller added.

"We shouldn't expect a quick recovery."

China's CPCA carmakers' group judged the fall in deliveries could mount as high as 70 percent year-on-year in February, and 40 percent in January-February combined.

"The coronavirus is freezing the world's biggest car market," German industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer said.

Production dips arising from supply shortages "can be caught up", Dudenhoeffer predicted, but "the fall in economic growth and demand will persist."

With 35 percent of German carmakers' worldwide sales stemming from China, a weak market there presents "major risks", the professor said.

Sales in China had already slumped 10 percent last year under the effect of trade wars with the United States.

Looking to the worldwide market, Germany's VDA sees car sales falling three percent in 2020, while credit rating agency Moody's predicted 2.5 percent.

fcz-ys/tgb/rl

MOODY'S CORP.

Related Links
Car Technology at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Tesla resumes work on German plant after court ruling
Berlin (AFP) Feb 21, 2020
US electric car giant Tesla resumed clearing forest for its first European "Gigafactory" near Berlin Friday after beating back a legal challenge from environmentalists, local authorities confirmed. "The work has started again," said a spokesperson for Gruenheide, a municipality in the state of Brandenburg where the factory is to be built. On Thursday, a local administrative court lifted an injunction that had prevented Tesla from clearing a 90-hectare (220-acre) area of forest. The injuncti ... read more