Shanghai (ZXZC)- China's vehicle inventory alert index (VIA), which reflects the inventory pressure on automobile dealers, rose 6.5 percentage points year on year in Oct. 2022, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

The VIA stood at 59% last month, climbing 3.8 percentage points from the previous month.

The index in Oct. was still above the official warning threshold (50%).

In October, which was supposed to be a peak-season month for car shopping, the automobile market demands were somewhat weakened by the epidemic impact, said the CADA. In addition, the market demands had been intensively unleashed between June and September due to the purchase tax reduction policy, so that the demands in Oct. were eclipsed to some extent.

Given the aforesaid factors, the association forecasted a lower-than-expected automobile delivery volume in China for the month of October, which may reach roughly 1.85 million units.

In October, the VIAs of imported & luxury brands, mainstream joint-venture brands, and Chinese indigenous brands reached 56.8%, 59.7%, and 60.2%, rising 4.7, 4.1, and 1.9 percentage points over the previous month, according to CADA's data.

The association also said the auto market demands are expected for a rapid recovery in November on the premise of a favorable turn on the epidemic control. The vehicle sales are anticipated to grow in the last two months of this year as automaker and dealers are in the year-end sprint to fulfill sales targets and the car purchase tax cut policy is approaching its conclusion.