THE country’s automobile sales fell 13.8 percent in February from the same month a year earlier, the country’s biggest auto industry association said yesterday, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline in the world’s largest auto market.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said sales fell to 1.48 million vehicles. That followed declines of 16 percent in January and 13 percent in December.

New energy vehicle sales, in contrast, rose 53.6 percent year on year in February, it said.

The government has pledged subsidies to boost rural sales of some vehicles as well as the sales of new energy vehicles.

The sales picture from automakers has so far been mixed, with Great Wall Motor Co. reporting 18-percent growth for February, whereas Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. reported a 24-percent decline.

Industry executives also said China’s car sales in January and February tend to be affected by the Chinese New Year holiday, around which consumers often hold off on car-buying decisions.

The car market slump has prompted dealers and manufacturers to resort to generous discounts and cheap loans, yet consumers are still in a wait-and-see mode ahead of potential government incentives aimed at reviving the market, especially in rural areas.

“Customers are waiting for the other shoe to drop before they make purchase decisions,” Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, told reporters in a meeting last month. “The longer it takes for governments to take real action, the worse the car sales will look like.”

Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. are among carmakers counting on an improvement in China to revive earnings hit by a slowing economy and trade tensions.

“The government won’t let the car market continuously show negative growth,” said John Zeng, managing director of researcher LMC Automotive Shanghai. “We expect the market to return to growth in the second half of this year if the trade war doesn’t deteriorate.”

(SD-Agencies)