Car sales in the world’s largest auto market dropped for the second straight month in July, Bloomberg reports, on the back of a weaker economic outlook and restrictions on the imports of US vehicles.
China’s passenger vehicle sales fell 5.4% to 1.6 million units last month, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. The follows a 3.7% drop in June and dragged the sales growth for 2018 so far down to 2%.
External factors including rising trade tensions with Washington had damaged consumer confidence in recent months, the association said. Japanese, Korean and local Chinese brands saw sales accelerate last month, however, with big names like Geely and Toyota jumping 32% and 17% respectively.
Beijing introduced an additional 25% tariff on US automobiles in July, as well as other key American products like soybeans.