TOKYO/BEIJING -- Nissan Motor Co.'s car gross sales in China, its largest market, dropped 80 p.c in February as coronavirus issues sapped demand, in one other blow to the carmaker which is struggling to recuperate from a revenue free fall.

The Japanese automaker mentioned on Monday it had offered simply 15,111 automobiles final month on the planet's largest auto market as demand for its Sylphy sedans and X-Path and Qashqai crossovers continued to tumble.

Nissan has been betting on development in China to cushion the affect from its slumping enterprise in the US and Japan, the place automobile gross sales fell 27 p.c final month.

However commuting bans and highway closures in lots of Chinese language areas in February has led to a slowdown in manufacturing since final month, curbing output and elevating dangers to the automaker's world provide chain.

As uncertainty concerning the coronavirus outbreak shakes world markets, demand on the planet's second-largest economic system is predicted to stay week within the short- to mid-term, which may...