Shanghai (ZXZC)- China's Vehicle Inventory Alert Index (VIA) stood at 56.1% in December 2021, falling 4.6 percentage points from the previous year, while rising 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). The index was still above the official warning threshold (50%).

The operational status of automotive supply chain continued to improve as the chip crunch has calmed down. However, the sales promotion dealers launched at the Double 12 shopping event and the Auto Guangzhou was weaker than previous years, failing to trigger a year-end car shopping spree. Besides, due to the sporadic and cluster coronavirus cases, employees are persuaded to stay where they work during the Spring Festival Holiday, resulting in curbs on a further unleash of market demands in the peak season.

The CADA said shortage of hotter-selling models still existed, meaning consumers should spending more weeks even months on searching or waiting for the vehicles they want. Moreover, the stricter epidemic prevention and control and the cold weather also led to less footfall at dealers’ car showrooms.

In December, the VIAs of the imported & luxury brands, the mainstream joint-venture brands, and the Chinese indigenous brands reached 53.3%, 56.7%, and 58.4%, rising 2, 1.9, and 2.8 percentage points over a month ago respectively, according to the CADA.