Carmakers look to Beijing to revive China’s slumping auto market

FRANKFURT: Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motor Co. and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co are among the carmakers increasingly counting on Chinese government tax cuts to stimulate demand and help the world’s biggest auto market rebound from its worst slump in a generation. The unanswered question is when that will happen.

Auto executives attending this year’s show in Shanghai gave a range of estimates from this month to the second half of this year. As a point of reference, the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said last week that sales could rebound in July or August after the effects of government tax breaks trickle down to consumer spending -- but overall growth likely would be flat this year.