(Yicai) Oct. 14 -- China’s automobile production and sales achieved double-digit growth in the first three quarters of the year, buoyed by favorable policies, particularly the trade-in program.

Vehicle production jumped more than 13 percent to 24.333 million units in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, according to data released today by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Sales surged nearly 13 percent to 24.363 million units.

China’s production and sales of new energy vehicles climbed more than 30 percent to over 11 million units each in the first three quarters from the same period last year, accounting for about 46 percent of new auto sales and achieving a penetration rate of nearly 58 percent in September alone.

The top three carmakers in China were BYD, SAIC Motor, and Geely Automobile in the first nine months of the year, with sales growth rates of 19 percent, 21 percent, and 43 percent, respectively. In September, SAIC’s sales soared 22 percent to about 430,000 units, overtaking BYD, which saw its sales decline 5 percent to around 396,000 units.

Other leading automakers in the period included FAW Group, Changan Automobile, Chery Automobile, Dongfeng Motor Group, BAIC Group, and Great Wall Motor. Tesla ranked 11th.

National policies effectively stimulated consumer demand in the Chinese automotive market this year, surpassing expectations, according to a spokesperson for the China Automobile Dealers Association.

Applications for vehicle replacement subsidies are expected to exceed 12 million units during the validity of the trade-in policy from April last year to December this year, driving new car sales by nearly CNY1.7 trillion (USD240 billion), according to data from the CADA. Sixty percent of such applications were to purchase NEVs.

The trade-in policy was supposed to expire at the end of last year but was extended until the end of this year. The market believes authorities may prolong it once more.

Some 4.95 million cars were exported from China in the first three quarters of the year, up almost 15 percent from a year earlier, the CAAM data also showed. NEV exports surged more than 89 percent to 1.758 million units.

Editor: Futura Costaglione