Impact Of Covid-19 On Global Vehicle Sales

Vinay Piparsania, Global Consulting Director, Counterpoint Research, provides a global update on how vehicle sales have been impacted due to the virus outbreak

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With almost all the countries having initiated varying levels of virus pandemic related lockdown measures in March, a significant decline in global vehicle sales for the month was to be expected. Sales numbers from key markets confirm the impact, tracking the growing severity as well as subsiding of the outbreak.

United States

With automotive production having stopped mid-March, US’ car sales for the month have dropped by over 39% YoY to around 1 million units, the lowest volume for March in over a decade. The biggest losers in relative volume terms are Chevrolet, followed by Toyota, Nissan, and Honda which have declined by over 60,000 units each. In most states, however, sales figures for the first week of March were relatively normal, so the reported figures may not yet provide an accurate picture of the full virus impact. April and May will continue to be dismal in light of extended lockdowns. Counterpoint Research expects a full-year US sales forecast to 13.9 million units.

China