Report: China auto sales down 7.1% in first half of 2022

BEIJING (AP) — An industry group says China’s auto sales fell 7.1% in the first half of 2022 from a year earlier, but demand in the industry’s biggest global market picked up in June. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in data reported by the official China News Agency, said sales from January to June totaled 12 million. CAAM said June sales rose 20.9% over a year earlier to 2.4 million. It gave no details on sales of electric cars or other vehicle types. China’s auto sales have suffered from consumer jitters over an economic downturn as well as shortages of processor chips and disruption of global supply chains due to the coronavirus pandemic.