BEIJING, October 16 (TMTPost)— China’s  auto market accelerates sales when entering its peak season.

Credit：Visual China

Retail sales of China-made passenger vehicles rose 5% year-over-year (YoY) to 2.018 million units in September, bringing the total sales over the first nine months of the year to 15.233 million vehicles, up 2.4% YoY, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The latest data represents sales of passenger cars edged 5% month-over-month (MoM) and speeded compared with August, when the sales increased 2.2% YoY, the first positive yearly growth since May.

CPCA data showcased the new energy vehicles (NEV), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), remained a key driver in September. Retail sales of NEVs surged 22.1% YoY to 746,000 units, with a 4.2% MoM increase, while the growth on either monthly or yearly basis sales slowed down somewhat compared with the previous month. Sales of NEV in August jumped 34.5% YoY and 11.8% MoM.  The penetration rate of NEV maintained more than 30% and reached 36.9% in September, gaining 5.1 percentage points YoY but decreasing 0.4 points MoM.

Sales during this year’s September were about 9% lower than the highest record the same month set in 2017 after its previous month shattered the record in August. While 5% is not a strong MoM growth in the history record, sales in September still maintained positive YoY growth, which demonstrates a strong pulling force given the base effect resulting from large sales volume in August and September last year, noted Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of CPCA. Cui believes the auto market was significantly driven by automakers’ increasing promotions to meet their quarterly target since September is the last month of the third quarter. In addition to promotions that unleash consumers’ demand, Cui said the government’s stimulus to boost spending also plays a role in September’s sales growth.  

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued a notice in June to launch a nationwide promotion from that month to December to boost auto sales. The ministry said the promotional activities will focus on boosting consumption in the whole supply chain of the auto industry, including new vehicle sales, second-hand vehicle sales, upgrades and the automotive aftermarket. Localities with coordinate and plan auto consumption promotion activities and based on local recommendations, and governments of many counties and townships across the country will organize activities to promote sales of NEVs, according to the notice.

China's state planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and twelve other government agencies released a host of measures to bolster automobile consumption in July. The public sector was required to increase purchase for new energy vehicles (NEVs) and authorities would support purchase of NEVs or replacement with NEVs for public works, public transport, rental, postal services, sanitation, gardens and other fields in the public sector, according to the official document.

NDRC further rolled out a host of measures to spur consumption in late July. Its notice said China vowed to boost consumption of a wide range of items and services including NEVs as well as that in rural areas. The notice also said local authorities should not unveil new measures to restrict auto purchase, while regions that have already had restrictive measures on auto purchasing should improve these measures in order to adapt to local conditions. The notice called for building high-quality charging infrastructure, promote the use of NEVs in rural areas, and maintain and improve the favorable tax incentives for NEV purchase.

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