February sales in China's auto market are expected to be the lowest of the year, the CPCA said.
China's February wholesale sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) are expected to decline further as the start of the year is usually slow and the New Year holiday brings new influences.
China's February wholesale sales of passenger NEVs are expected to come in at 450,000 units, down 9 percent year-on-year and 34 percent from January, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said in a report today.
In January, manufacturers with wholesale sales of more than 10,000 passenger NEVs contributed 90.7 percent of all wholesale NEV sales, CPCA said.
The estimated sales of these carmakers in February were 410,000 units, and based on last month's structure, China's February passenger NEV wholesale sales are expected to be at 450,000 units, CPCA said.
In China, NEVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and fuel cell vehicles. Their breakdown numbers are expected to be announced later this month.
February 10-17 was the 2024 Chinese New Year holiday. Last year's New Year's holiday was January 21-27, 2023.
There were 18 working days in February this year, which is two days less relative to the 20 working days in February 2023, the CPCA noted.
Auto consumption is usually weak around the Chinese New Year holiday, and most car companies would take extra days of vacation around the Chinese New Year, resulting in a short effective production and sales period in February this year, the CPCA said.
"It can be expected that February sales in China's auto market will be at the absolute bottom of the year," the CPCA said.
Among major automakers, BYD, Tesla China, and Geely Auto were the top three wholesale sellers in February, with 121,748, 60,365, and 33,508, respectively, according to the CPCA.
Tesla sells 60,365 China-made cars in Feb, down 15.5% from Jan
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