Shanghai (ZXZC)- GAC Group announced it sold 176,271 new vehicles in January, a decrease of 15.94% compared to the same period in 2019.

In terms of wholesale volume, joint ventures were all hit by double-digit decrease. Of those, GAC Honda and GAC Toyota saw their sales slide 16.14% and 15.16% respectively. The Sino-French joint venture GAC FCA suffered a plunge of up to 77.61%.

Affected by the Spring Festival holiday and the outbreak of novel coronavirus, China faced a 21.6% downward movement in Jan. locally-produced PV wholesale volume, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Nevertheless, GAC Motor still defied the overall sliding trend with a sales growth of 5.29%.

GAC Group's auto outputs in Jan. slumped 24.31% year over year to 138,004 units. The volume of GAC Honda, GAC Toyota and GAC NE all exceeded their original targets, reaching 45,392 units, 53,671 units and 3,015 units respectively, the group reported via its social media.

Regarding deliveries, there were roughly 194,000 new vehicles handed over to consumers. GAC Honda gained a slight year-on-year increase of 1.3% with 76,700 vehicles delivered in Jan. The joint venture intends to further enrich the lineup of SPORT TURBO and SPORT HYBRID in 2020. According local media reports, the mid-cycle refresh of the AVANCIER, the first SPORT TURBO model, will come out this year. Besides, the Crider Hybrid is set to hit the market, joining the SPORT HYBRID team that has already contained the hybrid versions of the Accord, the Odyssey, and the Breeze.

Moreover, the deliveries of GAC Toyota and GAC NE reached 68,000 units and 2,826 units respectively, rising 1.6% and 12.9% from the previous year.

（Photo source: GAC Honda's WeChat account)

As for specific models, the sales volume of the Levin series grew 11% year on year to roughly 24,000 units, and the second-generation Trumpchi GS4 posted a month-on-month jump of 27.93% with 16,700 vehicles sold last month. Notably, GAC Honda sold 12,900 Breeze SUVs, for the first time stepping over the 10,000-unit threshold.

NEV sales have maintained a rising impetus, said GAC Group. In January, the group sold 4,894 NEVs (+111% YoY), of which 3,002 units (+53% YoY) were the contribution made by GAC NE.