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
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.
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.
China’s annual NEV sales are expected to grow more than 40 per cent in the next five years, CAAM said last month.
US electric vehicle maker Tesla sold 33,155 China-manufactured electric cars in June.
