Chinese Auto Sales Are Declining Rapidly; Dealers Begin Price Wars

Recently implemented policies have done little to help flagging industry

A Haval H4 car is displayed at the Beijing auto show on April 25, 2018. - Global carmakers touted their latest electric and SUV models in Beijing as they warily welcomed China's promise of better foreign access to the world's largest auto market, where domestic vehicles are making major inroads. Industry behemoths like Volkswagen, Daimler, Toyota, Nissan, Ford and others are displaying more than 1,000 models and dozens of concept cars at the Beijing auto show. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP) Photo credit should read WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

Under the double blows of the Sino-U.S. trade war and domestic economic pressure, China’s auto industry sales have shown negative growth for the first time since 1990.

Since June 2018, China’s auto industry has experienced a continuous decline in sales. The latest data shows that car sales in the first three weeks of October dropped by 23 percent compared with the same period last year, and are expected to decline by another 20 percent, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), as reported by the state-run Zhejiang Daily Online on Oct. 31.