China's passenger vehicle sales expand in August

Photo: An electric vehicle by NIO, a Chinese NEV manufacturer, at the 2020 International (Hefei) Energy Conservation and New Energy Automobile Exhibition in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Sept. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Duan)

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's passenger vehicle sales registered strong growth in August, as the automobile market continued to recover, industry data showed.

The retail sales of passenger vehicles last month increased 8.9 percent compared with a year earlier to more than 1.7 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The strong growth in sales in August was accredited to improved consumer confidence thanks to the better-than-expected macro economic performance and the recovery in the export market, said Cui Dongshu, CPCA's secretary-general.

In the first eight months of this year, the output and retail sales of passenger vehicles in China stood at 10.79 million units and 11.01 million units, respectively, down 15.9 percent and 15.2 percent year on year, due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

It's worth noting that the wholesale sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) registered strong growth in August to exceed 100,000 units, with a year-on-year increase of 43.7 percent and a month-on-month increase of 23.9 percent. 

In terms of NEV brands, last month, SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), a joint venture by General Motors and two other Chinese automakers, sold 18,300 units in China, ranking the top, followed by BYD and Tesla with 14,300 units and 11,800 units, respectively.

Cui pointed out that the sales of high-end cars are expected to rise with the increasing demands for road trips during the coming holidays of China's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival. 

He forecast that marketing campaigns at many auto exhibitions nationwide will also contribute to the sales volume in the coming months. For example, Auto China 2020 is scheduled to open on September 26 in Beijing. (Edited by Li Shimeng, Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org, hupingchao@xinhua.org)