auto executives say the coronavirus which has killed more than 1380 people and infected nearly 64000 in mainland china is taking a severe toll on the industry sapping buyer demand and disrupting supply chains for car makers globally shanghai chinas auto market the worlds largest is likely to see sales slide more than 10 in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus epidemic the countrys top auto industry body told reuters on friday we predict auto sales will drop by more than 10 in the first half of this year and around 5 for the whole year if the epidemic is effectively contained before april fu bingfeng executive vice chairman of the china association of automobile manufacturers caam told reuters in a written interview advt its forecast is grimmer than an initial prediction made last month for a 2 dip in sales this year china has been a key market for global automakers from volkswagen to general motors as well as domestic manufacturers geely and saic motor tesla is also ramping up production from its 2 billion shanghai factory auto executives say the coronavirus which has killed more than 1380 people and infected nearly 64000 in mainland china is taking a severe toll on the industry sapping buyer demand and disrupting supply chains for car makers globally caam chinas top auto industry body whose members include hundreds of automakers suppliers and other companies in the sector conducted a poll among members after the outbreak and submitted findings and suggestions to government fu said the association has asked the government to offer more policies to support the industry such as changes to autorelated taxes and moderately adjust interest rates and banks reserve requirement ratio he said it has also asked beijing to offer more fundraising support and credit lines to companies auto sales in china where more than 25 million vehicles were sold last year likely fell around 18 in january from a year earlier preliminary data from caam showed on thursday industry sales fell 82 last year the second consecutive year of contraction pressured by new emission standards in a shrinking economy and by trade tensions with the united states advt read alsochemchina becomes latest chinese refiner to slash output due to coronaviruscoronavirus twisting hyundais supply chain in china reuters published on feb 14 2020 at 0908 pm ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others report join the community of 2m industry professionals subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights analysis download etauto app get realtime updates save your favourite articles scan to download app china auto sales coronavirus outbreak china car market china auto industry china auto