China car sales hit by chips shortage, down 12.4 per cent in June, but new energy vehicles still strong

China’s overall sales stood at 2.02 million vehicles in June, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM)

Chen Shihua, a senior official at CAAM, said that the global auto-chip supply shortage hit China’s production hard last month

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China sold 12.89 million vehicles between January and June, up 25.6 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Photo: AP

Published: 4:44pm, 9 Jul 2021Updated: 4:44pm, 9 Jul 2021

Car sales in China fell 12.4 per cent in June from the corresponding month a year earlier, industry data showed on Friday, as a global shortage of semiconductors hit production in the world’s biggest market.

Carmakers around the world have had to adjust assembly lines due to the auto-chip shortage, caused by manufacturing delays that some semiconductor makers blame on a faster-than-expected recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

China’s overall sales stood at 2.02 million vehicles in June, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The country sold 12.89 million vehicles between January and June, up 25.6 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Chen Shihua, a senior official at CAAM, said that the global auto-chip supply shortage hit China’s production hard last month, but given an overall economic recovery, CAAM is still moderately positive about domestic car market.

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) including battery-powered electric vehicles, plug-in petrol-electric hybrids, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles maintained their strong momentum, jumping 139.3 per cent, with 256,000 units sold last month.

NEV makers such as Nio, Xpeng and BYD are expanding manufacturing capacity in China, encouraged by the government’s promotion of greener vehicles to cut pollution.