Car sales in China, the world’s largest auto market, rose for a fifth straight month in November, as strong demand and policy stimulus continued to cement the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Passenger car sales grew 8% to 2.1 million vehicles last month from a year earlier, the China Passenger Car Association said Tuesday. In October, sales rose by 8%.
In China, where the coronavirus outbreak has been brought under control for months, the economy has rebounded and auto spending is a major driver of that. To boost sales, China’s cabinet and local governments have been easing purchase quotas and giving subsidies to car buyers.
Meanwhile, global auto makers, grappling with weak sales in other major markets where the coronavirus infections are surging again, have come to rely on China.
Honda Motor Co. said last week that its China sales increased 22% in November from a year earlier, while sales at Nissan Motor Co. rose 5.2%.