AUTOMOBILE sales in China fell 9.6 percent in June from the same month a year earlier, the country’s biggest auto industry association said yesterday, marking the 12th consecutive monthly decline in the world’s largest vehicle market.

Sales fell to 2.06 million vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.

That followed declines of 16.4 percent in May and 14.6 percent in April, as well as the first annual contraction last year since the 1990s amid slowing economic growth and a trade war with the United States.

Sales in the first half of the year fell 12.4 percent from a year earlier to 12.3 million vehicles.

A slowing economy and the trade war have been blamed for the year-long slide in auto sales, but more recently, much of the blame has been laid on the fast-tracking of new vehicle emission rules by 15 cities and provinces, which account for over 60 percent of car sales in China.

As provinces implemented the so-called “China 6” vehicle emission standards earlier than the Central Government’s 2020 deadline, it stoked uncertainty among manufacturers and confusion among consumers, according to the CAAM, analysts, dealers and consumers.

However, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) continued to grow, with an 80 percent uptick in June to 152,000 vehicles, bringing NEV sales in the first half to 617,000, an increase of almost 50 percent from a year earlier.

NEVs include plug-in hybrids, battery-only electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. China has been a keen supporter of NEVs, requiring automakers to meet production quotas.

Last year, NEV sales in the country jumped almost 62 percent even as the broader market shrank.(SD-Agencies)