Nissan's China sales took a hit in February as the company saw a decline of 80% in its overall vehicles sales owing to coronavirus. Nissan is already struggling to bounce back to profits and the coronavirus outbreak seems to have further added to its woes. Not only Nissan, but the overall passenger car sales also declined by 80% in China.
Coronavirus is biting into the profits of a large number of companies and global automakers so far have been one of the biggest casualties with demand and sales taking a hit in China. Coronavirus so far has claimed more than 3,000 lives in China and now the United States, Europe and other Asian countries too have started suffering from an increasing number of positive cases being reported on a daily basis.
Nissan bleeds in China
Nissan said on Monday that it managed to sell a meagre 15,111 units of vehicles in China in February as demand for its Sylphy sedans and X-Trail and Qashqai SUV crossovers continued to decline. China is the world's biggest car market and the coronavirus outbreak is taking a toll on the profits of all global automakers.
Nissan, which is already mired in controversy, has been banking on China to increase sales. The company has been suffering in the United States and Japan, where car sales plummeted 27% in February. Understandably, China which is a big market for Japanese and South Korean carmakers was a big hope for Nissan since then.
Grappling with declining sales
Mired in controversy, Nissan's woes don't seem to end anytime soon. Nissan has been grappling with declining sales over the past two years since its new executive team took over. China, the world's biggest market for new cars, has been its last hope to increases its sales but that too seems to have taken a blow with the coronavirus outbreak now putting breaks on everything.
China has imposed restrictions on travel and most companies having operations in China have temporarily halted production. Global carmakers seem to be one of the biggest casualties with the sales of most companies taking a hit. Even domestic carmakers are feeling the heat of coronavirus.
BAIC BluePark, the electric unit of state-owned BAIC Group, registered sales of just 1,002 units in February, down by 65.1% from the year-ago period. Geely Automobile sold only 21,168 Geely and Lynk & Co cars in February, a decline of 75% from year earlier. Shenzhen electric vehicle maker BYD recorded sales of 5,501 cars last month, a drop of 79.5% on a year-over-year basis.
