Electrified vehicles will account for 45% of March new-car sales, trade group predicts

Electrified cars and light trucks will represent 45 percent of total new-vehicle sales industrywide in March, the China Passenger Car Association predicted.

Demand for electrified vehicles is rising as producers slash prices to grab more market share, the trade group said, drawing on its latest survey of automakers in China. 

Sales of full electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and range-extended EVs industrywide are expected to reach 750,000 in March, a surge of 37 percent year over year, it noted.

As the market keeps shifting to electrified vehicles from gasoline products, overall sales of new passenger vehicles, including sedans, crossovers, SUVs and multipurpose vehicles, will increase only 3.7 percent to about 1.65 million this month, the trade group predicted.