(Yicai) Jan. 23 -- This month is usually China’s best for auto sales, but dealerships in Beijing, Nanjing, and Zhengzhou said viewings and sales have plunged since December.

Customer numbers and sales are down between 50 percent and 70 percent, dealers in the three cities told Yicai, with some seeing declines of as much as 80 percent and 90 percent.

The market has soured after the intense year-end price war, in which dealers and carmakers pulled out all the stops to meet annual performance targets. The situation could get even worse after the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, according to a marketing executive at a leading Chinese auto manufacturer.

An average of 54,000 vehicles were sold each day in the first week of this year, a 35 percent drop on December’s 83,000, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Viewings and sales of new energy vehicles at a Shanghai dealership have sunk 90 percent, said Zhang Feng, one of its sales consultants.

Despite Tesla being the first to announce price cuts this year, as it was last year, several of its showroom staff told Yicai that footfall and orders have fallen by 60 percent to 70 percent. According to one, his store has received only about a dozen orders in January, while others have seen them fall below 10.

The main reason for the bleak start to 2024 was early buying caused by last year’s price war and the relaxation of license plate policies in some cities, noted Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The market could slowly pick up after the lunar new year break, Chen added.

According to the CAAM’s own forecast, sales may top 31 million this year, up 3 percent on 2023.

Editor: Martin Kadiev