(Yicai Global) Jan. 13 -- China’s auto sales are expected to increase 5 percent this year, along with a 42 percent jump in those of new energy vehicles, a leading industry body said, after overall sales rose last year for the first time since 2017.

Some 27.5 million units are likely to be sold this year, Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said at a press conference yesterday. NEV sales may reach 5 million, with a penetration rate of more than 18 percent.

Last year, the comparable figures were 26.3 million, up 3.8 percent from the year earlier, and 3.5 million, a 158 percent gain, representing a 13.4 percent penetration rate for NEVs with private buyers accounting for nearly 80 percent of those purchased.

Alternative-energy vehicle sales are set to climb further in 2022 despite China, the world’s biggest auto market, planning to pull subsidies on NEVs by the end of the year. The sector no longer needs state support because sales are robust, the finance ministry said on Dec. 31.

China had planned to abolish the subsidies by the end of 2020, but delayed the move in light of the pandemic. In April that year, the finance ministry announced that from 2020 to this year state support would be cut by 10 percent, 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively. They were cut 30 percent on Jan. 1.

Auto exports are expected to soar 20 percent this year, Fu said, noting that Chinese carmakers’ overseas sales keep climbing mainly because of a pickup in global vehicle demand along with the transformation and upgrading of Chinese brands. Exports have been strong since last April, he said, with 2 million vehicles shipped last year, after hovering around 1 million for many years.

Editor: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione