Weekly News Wrap: China's July auto sales to grow 14.9%; Filipino retailers reel from weak foot traffic

And Melbourne, Australia is shutting down most of its retail sector for six weeks.

From Reuters:

China’s auto sales for July are expected to rise 14.9% YoY to 2.08 million vehicles, the country’s top auto industry body said in a post on its official WeChat account.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said its forecast was based on sales data it had collected from key companies, without giving further details.

It expects January to July auto sales in China, the world’s biggest auto market, to fall 12.7% YoY to 12.34 million units.

Read more here.

From Bloomberg:

In the Philippines, signs of an economic crisis abound: empty malls, buy-one-get-one-free car deals and restaurants closing permanently.

With coronavirus cases spiking, the government this week reimposed stricter containment measures on the capital region, which represents about one-third of the nation’s economy. Even when restrictions were loosened in June and July, however, mobility data suggest Filipinos continued to avoid malls and restaurants more than their Southeast Asian peers.

Business owners like Rosa Concepcion know the problem well: The lack of foot traffic has kept her from reopening her cafe in a suburban Manila mall. She’s hoping delivery apps can save the business, but competition has stiffened as many shops go online, while consumers hesitate to spend amid a wave of job losses.

Read more here.

From Bloomberg:

Australia’s Victoria state will shut down large parts of its retail and manufacturing sectors for six weeks across the city of Melbourne after a lockdown failed to contain a spike in coronavirus cases.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Monday also announced that construction firms must radically reduce the number of workers on site across the city, while production at meatworks statewide will be cut by a third. Essential services such as banks, supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations will remain open, he said.

“This will have a very significant impact” on the economy, Andrews said. “But until we fix the health problem, until we get these case numbers down to a much, much lower level, we simply cannot open the economy up again. So there is significant damage that needs to be done.”

Read more here.