Some of the world’s largest companies have sounded the alarm about the slowdown in the Chinese economy, warning that weaker growth would hit profits in the second half of the year. Car companies such as PSA Peugeot Citroën, Audi and Ford have slashed growth forecasts while industrial goods groups such as Caterpillar and Siemens have all spoken out on the negative impact of China. The warnings are a sign that China’s weaker growth and its stock market rout this month are creating a headache for global corporates that have long relied heavily on the world’s second-largest economy to drive revenues. Audi and France’s Renault both cited China as they cut their global sales targets on Thursday, with Christian Klingler, sales chief at Audi parent Volkswagen, predicting “a bumpy road” in the country this year. Peugeot slashed its growth forecast for China from 7 per cent to 3 per cent while earlier this week Ford predicted the first full-year sales fall for the Chinese car market since 1990.