THE auto industry will likely maintain steady revenues and profits this year despite slight declines in production and vehicle sales, a government official said Saturday, as the world’s biggest car market recovers from the impact of COVID-19.

Cai Ronghua, a senior official at National Reform and Development Commission, made the remarks to an industry conference hosted by China Automotive Technology and Research Center in Tianjin.

The country’s auto sales, the world’s biggest, have been recovering since April after the pandemic hit the market hard early in the year.

China’s auto market is expected to grow only slightly in the next five years, the country’s top auto industry body said at the same industry conference Friday.

“The next five years will be the key period of industry’s transformation and upgrade,” said Li Shaohua, senior executive at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The CAAM predicts China’s auto sales will reach around 27.75 million vehicles in 2025, up from 25.77 million units in 2019, Li’s presentation showed.

Though sales have picked up in recent months, the CAAM predicts they will fall around 10 percent for all of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the market hard early in the year.

(SD-Agencies)