There's absolutely no question, at this point, that the coronavirus situation in China is a serious problem. And, it's impacting everything.
According to reports, 500 million people have essentially put their lives on hold.
Imagine that? The entire populations of the United States, Canada and Mexico grinding to a halt.
Invariably with these types of outbreaks, this impacts all facets of life. This includes business. Although some auto manufacturers have reopened their respective Chinese plants, some are still waiting it out. Also, if people are quarantined, obviously they will not be shopping for a new set of wheels.
This past January, auto sales fell a sharp 18%, year-over-year. How bad it'll get is really not known at this stage, however, CNN points out below how sales fell during 2003's SARS crisis.
How much worse do YOU think it will get, Spies?
The global auto industry knew that the coronavirus outbreak would be damaging. Now China is starting to reveal how bad the problem could get.
Major automakers sold fewer than 2 million cars in the country last month, an 18% plunge from a year earlier, according to China's Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The group compiles its monthly tally by collecting data from carmakers in China.
The government-backed industry group acknowledged that the novel coronavirus played a role in January's big drop, and said declines could be even steeper in February.
The association said the virus will deliver a "huge shock" to the car industry, adding that it expects the impact to be worse than 2003's SARS epidemic. The growth of car sales in China slowed to 13% in April 2003 and 8% that May — sharply lower than the 34% growth it recorded in March of that year. The industry later rebounded, though...
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