China’s Car Sales Rebound in May; GAC, BYD, Changan Auto’s NEV Shipments More Than Double
Liao Shumin
DATE:  Jun 08 2023
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China’s Car Sales Rebound in May; GAC, BYD, Changan Auto’s NEV Shipments More Than Double China’s Car Sales Rebound in May; GAC, BYD, Changan Auto’s NEV Shipments More Than Double

(Yicai Global) June 8 -- China’s sales of passenger cars surged 30 percent in May from a year earlier, and vehicle makers such as GAC Group, BYD and Changan Automobile saw their electric car sales more than double as the price war in the country’s auto sector cools off and people relax their wait-and-see attitude, according to the latest data.

Some 1.7 million passenger cars were shifted in China last month, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association. Of this, 557,000 units were new energy vehicles, a jump of 55 percent from a year ago.

GAC logged the fastest growth in NEV sales, with sales surging 124.7 percent to 50,377 units, the Guangzhou-based auto manufacturer said yesterday. Changan Automobile’s shipments soared 113.4 percent to 29,288 autos, while Shenzhen-based BYD’s sales jumped 108.9 percent to 240,200 units.

NEV sales will improve this year, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said recently. As exports increase, and with the low base line last year, carmakers in core areas of the NEV industrial chain, such as Shanghai, performed exceptionally well.

In the first five months, car sales climbed 4 percent to 7.6 million autos, of which 2.4 million were NEVs, a year-on-year gain of 40 percent.

The price war, which was triggered by US electric car giant Tesla slashing its prices at the beginning of the year, is cooling off, dealers are becoming more positive and consumers have started spending moderately again, CPCA said.

There were strong sales over the five-day Labor Day holiday at the beginning of last month, and, overall, car sales have improved, the association said.

However, now that the early release of pent-up demand has been used up, orders dropped in mid-to-late May as the market started to cool, the CPCA added.

China’s passenger car sales will reach 23.5 million units this year, of which NEVs will account for 8.5 million autos, the association said. The NEV penetration rate should reach 36 percent this year.

Editor: Kim Taylor

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Keywords:   NEV,Chinese Market