Vehicle output at 11 key auto groups in China slipped 11 percent to roughly 983,000 vehicles in the first 20 days of May, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said this week.
The 11 company groups, comprised of all foreign automakers producing locally as well as every major domestic manufacturer, account for more than 90 percent of auto output in China.
During the 20-day period, production of commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks slumped 14 percent from a year earlier, while output of light vehicles —sedans, crossovers, SUVs, MPVs to minibuses – dropped 9.9 percent, according to CAAM.
CAAM didn’t release additional details on the production cuts or the reason for the decline. The trade group normally discloses vehicle output and sales around the tenth of each month for the previous month.
It warned earlier a global chip shortage, which started to dent auto production in China late last year, is likely to worsen in the second quarter.
In April, auto production industrywide rose 6.3 percent to 2.23 million, with commercial-vehicle output rising 1.2 percent to around 521,000 and light-vehicle production increasing 7.9 percent to 1.71 million.
Auto output in China surged 53 percent to 8.59 million in the first four months, with commercial-vehicle output advancing 47 percent to some 1.92 million while light-vehicle production jumped 55 percent to 6.67 million.