New-car sales dip for fifth-straight month, trade group estimates

China’s new-car market shrank for the fifth-straight month in August, with retail sales of new sedans, crossovers, SUVs and multipurpose vehicles edging down 1 percent to 1.91 million vehicles, the China Passenger Car Association estimated.

Slumping vehicle demand in the final week of August wiped out a rebound in volume during the first weeks of the month, the trade group said.

Electrified vehicle sales continued to grow at a rapid rate, taking a greater share of the market. 

Nearly 1.02 million full-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and range-extended EVs were delivered industrywide last month, surging 42 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 53 percent of total new-car sales, according to a preliminary tally by the trade group.

Through August, new-car sales industrywide increased 2 percent to approach 13.5 million, with sales of electrified vehicles jumping 35 percent to top 6 million.