Narrowing profit margins due to higher raw material costs have dealt yet another major blow to China’s carmakers as they face shrinking market demand amid a rollback of purchase subsidies and tax incentives. The dire scenario could also dash Chinese consumers’ hopes for steep discounts, despite carmakers’ efforts to reduce their inventories, according to dealers and analysts. “The crux point is that most carmakers are facing squeezed margins and are unable to offer further price cuts to attract...
Ikea’s parent company Ingka Group has hired property consultancy JLL as its sole sales agent to offload eight retail properties in mainland China, the multinational furniture brand’s largest asset disposal since it entered the market nearly 30 years ago. Seven of the properties were Ikea stores that ceased their operations in February. The remaining one, a site in Guiyang in the southern province of Guizhou, shut down in 2022 and has been vacant ever since, according to disclosure from JLL last...
Volkswagen Group’s deliveries in China slumped during the first half of 2026 to their lowest level in 16 years, as local electric vehicle (EV) brands further siphoned off buyers’ interest in petrol cars amid a slowing market. Through its three ventures with Chinese partners, the German car brand handed over a total of 971,000 units to customers in China between January and June, down 26.1 per cent year on year, it said in a statement. The delivery volume hit the lowest level since the first half...