Nissan’s vehicle sales in China drop 80% in February

Nissan Motor’s vehicle sales in China, its biggest market, declined 80% in February as coronavirus concerns weakened demand, in another blow to the automaker which is having a hard time to recover from a profit free fall.

The Japanese automaker stated on Monday it had sold just 15,111 vehicles last month in the world’s biggest auto market as demand for its Sylphy sedans and X-Trail and Qashqai SUV crossovers keep dropping.

Nissan has been betting on growth in the country to cushion the impact from its declining business in the United States and Japan, where car sales dropped 27% last month.

But commuting bans and road closures in many Chinese locations in February has led to a downturn in production since last month, curbing output and increasing risks to the automaker’s international supply chain.

As uncertainty regarding the coronavirus outbreak shakes worldwide markets, and this could further pressures sales at international automakers.

Nissan has been struggling with declining sales for the past two years and its new executive team could come under rising pressure to provide deeper cost cuts in its recovery plan, which is expected in May.