In the first quarter, wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China are expected to be 1.48 million, up 25 percent year-on-year, the CPCA said.

China's March wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles (passenger NEVs) are expected to be 600,000 units, up 20 percent from February and up 30 percent year-on-year, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said in a report today.

In February, the 10 manufacturers that sold more than 10,000 NEVs at wholesale contributed 83 percent of all wholesale sales, the CPCA said.

These companies are expected to sell 477,000 units in March, and the normal structure would put China's March wholesale sales of passenger NEVs above 570,000 units, the CPCA said.

Considering that some small and medium-sized companies' NEV sales improved significantly from February, the passenger car market in March could be optimistic, the CPCA said.

In the first quarter, wholesale sales of passenger NEVs in China are expected to be 1.48 million, up 25 percent year-on-year, the CPCA said.

China's passenger NEV sales fell sharply in January, as subsidies for the purchase of NEVs were withdrawn, as well as under the influence of the Chinese New Year holiday. The market gradually rebounded in February.

In March, China's passenger NEV market maintained a rebound despite disruptions from gasoline vehicle promotions, the CPCA said.

With recent lithium carbonate price reductions evident, some manufacturers actively allowed production and sales to slow down in the first quarter to reduce costs, the CPCA noted.

At one point in late November last year, battery-grade lithium carbonate was quoted at RMB 590,000 ($85,790) per ton in China, about 14 times the average RMB 41,000 per ton price in June 2020.

Since then, lithium carbonate offers have continued to move downward, without seeing a single day of gains this year.

Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China today fell RMB 8,500 per ton, or 3.66 percent, to RMB 224,000 per ton, according to Mysteel data monitored by CnEVPost.

Industrial-grade lithium carbonate fell RMB 6,000 per ton, or 3.08 percent, to RMB 189,000 per ton today.

($1 = RMB 6.8774)

Tesla sells 88,869 China-made vehicles in Mar, CPCA data show