Auto giants feel the pinch as annual car sales fall 5.8%

Gloomy results due to soaring housing prices and lackluster stock market

Retail sales of passenger cars in China fell 5.8 percent in 2018 to 22.35 million, the first annual fall since 1990, but there is much room for further growth in the long term, the China Passenger Car Association said on Wednesday.

Sales in December stood at 2.22 million, down 19.3 percent from the same month the previous year, marking the seventh straight month of decline in 2018.