China is giving cash to car buyers to revive sales crushed by the pandemic

In a normal year, China would have sold more than 6 million new cars by now. This year, the number is closer to 3.7 million, and now the government is handing out cash to help the world's biggest auto market get back on its feet after the coronavirus pandemic.

Car sales declined 42% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to last year, according to data released late last week by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). While that is largely because of a whopping 79% plunge in February — when the country of 1.4 billion people recorded just 310,000 sales — the market remains very weak. Only 1.43 million vehicles were sold in China last month, a 43% decline over March 2019.