Foreign-branded car sales in China increase in May

Sales of foreign-branded cars in China rose in May as auto consumption was rapidly recovering, and industry analysts said China could be the most promising car market in 2020 as the country has largely contained the coronavirus outbreak.

As electric carmaker and battery manufacturer Tesla struggles to resume production at its US factory, sales of the made-in-China Tesla Model 3 hit 11,095 units, up 205 percent month-onmonth, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed.

Thanks to online and offline promotional tactics like live-streaming on e-commerce platforms in China, Volvo saw continued growth in both its sales and showroom visits in May. The company sold 15,100 cars in the Chinese mainland in May, up 22 percent year-on-year. Showroom visits grew 40 percent year-on-year.

Major Japanese brands such as Nissan, MAZDA and Toyota reported rising sales too in May. MAZDA sold 22,886 cars last month, up 31.64 percent year-on-year. That is much higher than the Chinese market's average car sales growth of 1.8 percent to 1.61 million units, data from the CPCA showed.

Toyota reported May sales of 166,300 cars, up 20.1 percent. Toyota's sales in the market have recovered to pre-coronavirus levels and are expected to further rise through the rest of the year with the rollout of the compact Wildlander sport utility vehicle.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the CPCA, told the Global Times Wednesday that foreignbranded car sales in May were within expectations, as the nation's vehicle market seems to have recovered its vitality. “As there is yet no sign of an auto market recovery in the US and elsewhere, China may be the most promising market in 2020,” he said.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, foreign brands ramped up investment in the Chinese market.

For example, Toyota announced on June 5 that it would invest 200 million yuan ($28.24 million) in a new joint venture with five Chinese auto companies to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology. That move came after Volkswagen announced plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) for a 50-percent stake in Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province.