China’s light vehicle production will drop 11.5% this year to around 21.6 million vehicles and will rebound by 7.5% next year, research firm IHS Markit predicted on Monday, reported Reuters.
“The latest forecast takes the extended shutdown of auto plants in March and the supply chain disruption caused by the extended shutdown of the plants in Hubei province into consideration,” IHS Markit said in a post on its social media WeChat account.
“For Chinese automakers which purchase auto parts from Europe, the disruption of production in Europe may be a risk factor. But at this stage, we have not seen the European coronavirus epidemic directly affect Chinese auto production,” IHS Markit added.
China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), which expects China’s overall auto sales to drop 5% this year, is calling on the government to help after industry-wide sales plunged a record 79% in February from a year earlier, with demand pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic.