China’s 2020 auto sales fall, then recover amid coronavirus

An industry group says China’s sales of SUVs, minivans and sedans fell 6% last year compared with 2019 after demand in the industry’s biggest global market first plunged due to the coronavirus pandemic and then rebounded in the second half

BEIJING — China’s sales of SUVs, minivans and sedans fell 6% last year compared with 2019 after demand in the industry’s biggest global market first plunged due to the coronavirus pandemic and then rebounded in the second half, an industry group reported Wednesday.

In December, sales rose 7.2% over a year earlier to 2.4 million, down from November’s 11.6% growth, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Sales of trucks and buses rose 2.4% to 456,000.

For the full year, auto sales declined to 20.2 million. Sales of commercial vehicles rose 18.7% to 5.1 million.