Chinese carmakers captured more than 70 percent of the domestic passenger car market in July, with new energy vehicles (NEVs) accounting for 48.7 percent of new car sales, China Daily reports – citing figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Total vehicle sales for the month reached 2.59 million units, down 10.7 percent from June (July is typically a weaker month) but up 14.7 percent year-on-year. Domestic brands accounted for 1.6 million of those units, up 21.3 percent compared with the same period last year.
According to Chen Shihua, CAAM’s deputy secretary-general, NEVs were behind the increasing demand for Chinese cars. In July, NEV sales hit 1.26 million units – a year-on-year rise of 27.4 percent. The term ’NEV’ covers all types of electric vehicles (EVs), from fully battery-powered to plug-in hybrids.
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Chen noted that Chinese NEVs were also becoming more popular abroad, with exports of plug-in hybrids soaring 220 percent year-on-year in July and pure EV exports climbing 83.6 percent. China’s car exports reached 575,000 units in July, a year-on-year increase of 22.6 percent.
Wuhu-headquartered Chery sold the most vehicles outside of China that month, with 119,000 units (20.7 percent of the total exports).
Meanwhile, foreign-brand car purchases in China decreased overall in July. Only German brands were bucking the trend to retain their 12.8 percent market share.
In recent months, news coverage has highlighted Chinese automakers’ intense competitive pricing strategies – particularly for EVs. They are viewed as an industry where oversupply meets insufficient market demand, leading to a “race to the bottom” that Beijing acknowledges is hurting the economy.
China’s trade partners, including the US and European Union (EU), have repeatedly criticised the country’s excess manufacturing capacity and claim that the country has flooded their markets with artificially cheap goods – a practice that undermines local rivals.
