Chinese automotive industry back to normal

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology agency said last week that the country's automobile sector is back to normal, with both output and sales in May increasing more than 50 percent from April. Major suppliers SAIC Motor and SKF concur. SAIC, which is one of the largest Chinese automakers based in Shanghai, says all of its three major plants there have returned to pre-epidemic production levels. The company says that the combined daily output of its Motor Passenger Vehicle Co., Volkswagen Automotive Corp. and General Motors Corp. has reached 13,000 units—the normal level before the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the city. SKF makes and supplies bearings to major car companies, noting that its output in Shanghai is back to 90 percent of the normal level. The company's production base and R&D center in the Jiading district, as well as its distribution center in Waigaoqiao, remained in operation after the outbreak began in March. It was put on the second batch of the city's whitelist for work resumption in April. According to data released June 10 from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, total sales of new-energy vehicles hit more than 2 million units from January to May. This number is up 111.2 percent from a year earlier.