GENERAL Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. announced their quarterly sales in China fell, albeit at a slower pace, sequentially, as the U.S. automakers were hit by a slowing economy amid the Sino-U.S. trade war.

GM’s vehicle sales in China for the quarter ended June 30 dropped 12.2 percent, while Ford’s sales slumped by 21.7 percent. While GM also suffered from heightened competition in its key mid-priced SUV segment, Ford was hurt by the limited new models for customers to choose from.

For the first quarter of this year, Ford’s sales in China tumbled 35.8 percent while GM’s fell 17.5 percent.

Still, the numbers from GM, the second biggest international automaker in China by sales, and Ford portend more uncertainty for the industry, which is trying to rebound from a downward spiral that led to its first annual sales decline last year in more than two decades.

GM delivered 1.57 million vehicles in China in the January-June period this year, while Ford delivered 290,321 vehicles.

China’s factory activity shrank more than expected in June, highlighting the need for more economic stimulus amid higher U.S. tariffs and weaker domestic demand.

Annual car sales in China fell last year for the first time since the 1990s, and they are expected to fall this year too. Sales tumbled 16.4 percent in May from the same month a year prior, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said. That marked the 11th consecutive month of decline and followed falls of 14.6 percent in April and 5.2 percent in March.

U.S. car companies’ share of total China passenger vehicles sales fell to 9.6 percent in the first five months of this year from 10.9 percent in the year-ago period, according to the CAAM. Over the same period, German carmakers’ share has risen to 23.3 percent from 20.9 percent and Japanese automakers’ to 21.3 percent from 17.3 percent.(SD-Agencies)