China's mid-class vehicle sales drop 50% in May

Shanghai, June 5 (Gasgoo.com)  In May, a month expected best for selling vehicles, sales of mid-class vehicles in China dropped to different degrees, and the biggest drop was 50%. But in March, usually a low season for car sales, the auto market was booming. This year China's auto market trend has been reversed.

However, on May 1 to 3, one of China's three-day vacations, all 4$ stores did a brisk trade, and Toyota Corolla sold 70 units in a single store. But since the devastating earthquake on May 12 in Sichuan province, each store has sold few cars. Due to the sales slowdown, the discount on mid-class vehicles in May has risen more than in March.

Changan Ford's hatchback Focus offered a discount of 1,300 yuan ($187) from the less than 10,000 yuan in March; Dongfeng Honda's Civic had 20,000 yuan cut off its price, compared the 17,000 yuan in March. Skoda Octavia also had a 2,000 yuan discount. 

In one week after it's put onto the market, Buick Excelle has offered up to 5,000 yuan off its 103,800 yuan price in its Beijing 4S stores. It remains to be seen what will happen in the following months to the Chinese auto market, which has undergone an unbearable depression partly blamed on the earthquake.