Car sales continue to grow in the later half of 2022, as fears of a global recession increase and supply chain problems persist.
The latest to reveal bleak figures was Porsche, which said its global deliveries fell 5% to 145,860 vehicles in the first half of the year, according to a Bloomberg summary Friday morning.
The company cited (surprise) “supply chain challenges and the resurgence of China’s pandemic,” the note says. Sales fell 10% in the US and 16% in China, where confinements became a reality again during the first half of the year.
In fact, sales were 7% higher in Europe. Detlev von Platen, head of sales and marketing at Porsche, offered a vague turn towards the later half of the year, stating: “We expect the second half to be dynamic.”
Demand for SUVs remains “especially high,” the company said. Its Cayenne and Macan models were the best-selling, the report notes.
Meanwhile, the upswing in China seems to have already consolidated, as we pointed out about a week ago. Chinese car sales rose in June as the country continued its reopening of Covid and further reflected on what types of subsidies for electric vehicles would continue.
Notably, June sales rose 43.2%, while new-energy vehicles rose 130.8% to 532,000 units sold, according to Bloomberg data citing the Passenger Car Association of China.
The production of passenger vehicles in the country was 2.2 million units, 44.3% more year-on-year.
Related: Is Biden ready to ease sanctions against Venezuela?
Recall that a few days ago we observed the trend of NEVs when Tesla posted sales in June 142% more than the previous month. We then observed that electric vehicles were seeing a boost in China during the month of June. In June, 1,926 million cars were sold in China, an increase of 22% over last year.
It looks like Porsche is countering the trend in Europe, where supply chain chaos continues to wreak havoc, we noted a few days ago. June sales data for new car registrations in the UK and Germany fell down a cliff and the UK saw June weaker since 1996.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders still attributes the drop in sales to the “global semiconductor shortage” mixed with Covid’s implementation in China of severe restrictions.
For Zerohedge.com
More main readings from Oilprice.com: