GREAT Wall Motor Co., one of the top sport-utility vehicle makers in China, cut its sales target by 8 percent as the COVID-19 epidemic, which has killed more than 3,200 people in China, hit the market.

Great Wall, which is building a factory with German premium automaker BMW, said yesterday it now aims to sell 1.02 million units in 2020, down from previous 1.11 million units target as the COVID-19 epidemic hit sales in China, the world’s biggest auto market.

Great Wall also lowered its target for net profit by around 13.8 percent to 4.05 billion yuan from 4.7 billion yuan. It did not change its sales and profit target for 2021 and 2022.

Automakers in China are calling on the government to help after industry-wide sales plunged 79 percent in February to mark their biggest ever monthly decline, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

A CAAM association official said that auto sales are likely to drop by more than 10 percent for the first half of this year.

Great Wall sold 1.06 million cars last year. In February, it sold 10,023 units, down 85.5 percent from a year earlier.

(SD-Agencies)