STUTTGART (Reuters) - German auto supplier Robert Bosch sees a further downturn in China this year after the country's car market posted its first decline in almost two decades last year, the head of its core auto parts unit said.
"The skid marks in the Chinese car market will be seen again this year," Stefan Hartung on Monday said, adding that China's auto market saw a double-digit decline in the first quarter of 2019.
Hartung said he was optimistic about sales in the company's biggest foreign market in the medium and long term due to China's still low saturation level of private vehicles, adding that a stabilisation was possible.
He said mobility services such as car-sharing and shuttle-services would grow faster in China than in the U.S. or Europe.
Bosch's sales in China in 2018 rose by just one percent, after a 25-percent rise the year before.
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; writing by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Tassilo Hummel and Kirsten Donovan)
