Retail sales of new passenger vehicles such as sedans, crossovers, SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles rose 10 percent from a year earlier to some 1.39 million in February, the China Automobile Dealers Association said Wednesday.
The main reason for the market expansion is the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday, which resulted in more working days in February as compared with the same month last year, the trade group noted.
The week-long Chinese New Year holiday began on January 21. Last year, it started on January 31.
In February, electrified passenger vehicles continued to penetrate the market at a fast pace: some 439,000 full electrified vehicles were delivered across China, a jump of 61 percent from a year earlier.
In January, the market skidded 38 percent to 1.29 million due to the lingering pandemic, the termination of government incentives at the end of 2022 and fewer working days.
At the end of December, China’s decade-long subsidy program for EVs and plug-in hybrids and six-month sales tax cut on gasoline vehicles both expired.
Taken together, the market contracted 20 percent to less than 2.68 million in the first two months, according to the CADA’s tally.
By contrast, EV and plug-in hybrid volume during the two-month period advanced 23 percent to around 439,000.
With the latest coronavirus outbreak easing and the economy showing signs of recovery, the CADA expects new-car sales in China to stabilize in coming months.
