Islamabad, Sep 9: On Monday revealed that China’s passenger car sales decreased in August for the fifth consecutive month, despite a rise in sales of plug-in hybrid and all-electric models thanks to incentives for drivers to swap in their more polluting cars.
According to figures from the China Passenger Car Association, sales decreased 1.1% to 1.92 million vehicles from the same month last year. In contrast, there was a 3.1% decrease in July.
However, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) increased 43.2% to make up a record 53.5% of all automobile sales. This was due to record-breaking sales from local EV leader BYD and a stellar month from US rival Tesla.
Car exports increased 24% after a 20% rise in July.
The numbers reflected waning consumer confidence, with first-time car purchases lagging behind trade-ins, the association said last week.
Drivers are eligible for a cash subsidy of as much as 20,000 yuan ($2,823) when trading in petrol-powered cars to buy NEVs, while those trading in petrol-powered cars for smaller-engine alternatives are entitled to up to 15,000 yuan.
In line with a downshift in consumer spending, local EV majors Nio and Xpeng launched lower-priced brands earlier this year.
Rising EV and plug-in hybrid sales have barely helped with challenges at dealerships that are battling price falls.
More than half of dealerships suffered a loss in January-June, with the ratio up 7.3 percentage points from a year prior, data from the China Automobile Dealers Association showed.
Money-losing China Grand Automotive Services, the second-largest dealership, was delisted from the Shanghai bourse in August after its stock traded below par value for 20 consecutive days.
