THE country’s automobile sales fell 11.7 percent in October, bringing the world’s biggest car market closer to an annual contraction not seen since at least 1990.

Data from the country’s top auto industry association released Friday showed 10-month cumulative sales falling, amid broader slowing economic growth and a biting trade war between China and the United States.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said overall vehicle sales for the January-October period totaled 22.87 million, down 0.1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Sales in October were 2.38 million, the fourth straight month of declines and the steepest drop since early 2012.

“Maintaining positive growth to the end of the year won’t be easy. There could be negative growth,” Yao Jie, vice secretary general of the CAAM, said at a briefing in Beijing.

Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said the October drop was in line with expectations, but there was little ahead to suggest things would pick up soon.

“Things don’t look good all the way to the end of the year, because of weakness in the market and the high base for comparison from last year,” he said, adding he was watching to see if carmakers made a push to spur sales.

The industry body said the drop was linked to sluggish consumer demand and the impact of a slowing economy. In previous months the CAAM also said that the trade war was impacting sales.

Shi Jianhua, another senior CAAM official, added the body was not pushing for short-term stimulus measures to support the market and would prefer any incentives to be longer-term.

CAAM had originally forecast a 3 percent rise for the year, in line with last year’s growth, though still sharply down from a 13.7-percent gain in 2016.

(SD-Agencies)