Shanghai (ZXZC)- China's Vehicle Inventory Alert Index (VIA) stood at 52.5% in October 2021, falling 1.6 percentage points from the previous year, while rising 1.6 percentage points from the previous month, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). The index was still above the official warning threshold (50%).

In October, the constraint of chip supply was slightly alleviated over the previous month, while the supply still failed to fully meet the demand of car production, said the CADA. Dealerships didn't take large-scale sales promotional activities during the National Day holiday due to the shortage of car inventories. Despite the rising demands in the traditional peak season for car shopping, plentiful consumers took a wait-and-see attitude because of the price increase flowing from the insufficient terminal car supply.

Besides, both car demands and supply in this year’s October were weaker than the same period of previous years due to the sporadic pandemic cases and the busy harvest season, according to the association.

In October, the VIAs of the imported & luxury brands, the mainstream joint-venture brands, and the Chinese indigenous brands reached 50.6%, 52.1%, and 54%, rising 1.7, 0.1, and 1.8 percentage points over a month ago respectively, according to the CADA.