The Chinese market is feeling the pinch of the semiconductor shortage as it experiences a drop in sales of new vehicles.
In June, just under 1.93 million cars and trucks were delivered in China. While that’s a lot compared to any other market, it is a 16 per cent decline from June 2020, Auto News reports.
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Figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reveal that demand for new light vehicles, including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses, dropped by 15 per cent across the industry in June. Sales of new commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks fell by 21 per cent during the same month.
Individual automakers are also reporting drops in sales. For example, Honda has reported a decline of 17 per cent, delivering 118,168 vehicles last month. Similarly, Nissan sales slumped by 16 per cent to 114,605 units.
Interestingly, the market for new cars in China showed signs of recovery during the first quarter, jumping by 77 per cent from the same period last year at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Apart from June, sales in China also dropped in May by 3.1 per cent despite growing by 11 per cent in April. This marked the first decline in the country in some 14 months and shows the extent of the semiconductor shortage and how it continues to impact car manufacturers in markets all around the world.
