(Yicai Global) Aug. 11 -- China’s passenger car sales rose the most since May 2018 last month as the demand rebounded amid the easing Covid-19 pandemic.

Sales rose by 7.7 percent to 1.6 million in July from a year ago, the China Passenger Car Association announced today.

The new and used cars markets will recover this month with sellers trying to reduce inventories and optimize their structures as the epidemic is controlled, which should help the wholesale market bounce back by October, the CPCA predicted.

The impacts of the coronavirus epidemic could still be seen in the first half data as sales slid 18.5 percent to 9.3 million from a year earlier. However, two categories bucked the downward trends, namely new energy vehicles and luxury marques.

NEV sales climbed 28.3 percent to 83,000 units in July from a year ago. Tesla retained its No. 1 spot in terms of pure electric vehicles with 11,041 units, whereas in electric and hybrid models, BYD led the market with 14,000 units sold. NEV startups Nio, WM Motor, and Xiaopeng Motors sold a combined number of 14,000 units, nearly three times as much as a year ago.

Luxury cars were increasingly popular as sales climbed 30 percent from a year earlier with a 15 percent market share, partly spurred by discounts. Joint ventures of foreign carmakers' such as Toyota and Volkswagen increased their sales by 4 percent while domestic brands sold 5 percent more with a nearly 34 percent market share.

China exported 34,000 cars in July, down 29 percent. Deliveries to developing countries were relatively low while those to the US and Western Europe held quite strong.

China's car sales made up 22 percent of the world's total in the first quarter and 42 percent in the following quarter. The country has been the largest global vehicle manufacturer and seller since 2009. China's car ownership is expected to exceed the US's 278 million in the second half of this year.

Editor: Emmi Laine