A model poses next to a Toyota vehicle during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show held in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Photo: IC

Foreign-branded car manufacturers' sales in China reported a fast recovery in June as the COVID-19 pandemic has been put under control in the country, with an industry analyst predicting China to become the world's most promising auto market in 2020.

Japanese brand Toyota reported it sold 172,900 cars in June, up 22.8 percent, and 2.7 percent higher compared to May. Other than the company's new models of cars, like Corolla and Levin, its high-end brands, including Lexus and RAV4, maintained very strong growth momentum.

In the first half of this year, Toyota's sales in China recovered to the level of that pre-pandemic, sliding only 2.2 percent year-on-year to 753,100 units in the market.

Japan's Mazda sold 21,002 cars in June, up 7.3 percent year-on-year. Despite the impact of pandemic, the brand posted a fast recovery, seeing positive sales growth in the Chinese market for consecutive five months.

Honda also revealed its car sales in China on Friday, selling 142,363 cars in June, down 4.1 percent year-on-year. However, its joint venture with Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co saw 71,587 units sold last month, up 9.6 percent year-on-year.

It was not only foreign-branded car manufacturers that posted a quick recovery after the pandemic, but China's auto market as a whole also posted a fast recovery in June, with data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showing that China's major car manufactures are predicted to sell 2.28 million units in June, up 4 percent month-on-month.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, told the Global Times on Sunday that he predicts the country's auto market to post a better year-on-year performance this year, up from previous projections of an 8 to 10 percent decline.

"Even a flat performance would make China's market the most promising market this year, as some other countries may report a year-on-year decline of 30 to 50 percent amid the global pandemic," he said.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, foreign brands have increased their investment in the Chinese market. In fact, Toyota said on June 5 that it plans to invest 200 million yuan ($28.24 million) into a new joint venture with five Chinese auto companies to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology. 

Toyota's move came after Volkswagen announced it plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) into a 50-percent stake in Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co., in Hefei, the capital of East China's Anhui Province.
Newspaper headline: Foreign-branded car manufacturers’ sales on steady recovery