China's NEV penetration at retail was a record 47 percent in May, up 14 percentage points from 33 percent a year earlier and up 3.3 percentage points from 43.7 percent in April.

China's retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) rebounded significantly in May, after seeing unexpected weakness in April.

Retail sales of e passenger NEVs in China in May were 804,000 units, up 38.5 percent from a year ago and up 18.7 percent from April, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

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The figure is higher than the preliminary figure of 790,000 units released by the CPCA earlier this month, and also higher than the estimate of 770,000 units it released at the end of last month.

In April, the weakness in China's auto market continued, with NEV sales falling 5.21 percent from March to 677,044 units.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 61.6 percent of all NEV retail sales in May at 495,000 units. That's up 27.4 percent year-on-year and up 22.2 percent from April.

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) accounted for 309,000 units of retail sales in May, contributing 38.4 percent of all NEV retail sales. That's up 61.1 percent year-on-year and up 13.6 percent from April.

China's passenger vehicles, including sedans, SUVs and MPVs, retailed 1.71 million units in May, down 1.9 percent year-on-year but up 11.4 percent from April.

China's NEV penetration at retail was a record 47 percent in May, up 14 percentage points from 33 percent a year earlier and up 3.3 percentage points from 43.7 percent in April, the CPCA said.

NEV penetration at retail in May was 71.2 percent for local brands, 28.4 percent for luxury brands and 7.5 percent for mainstream joint venture brands, according to the CPCA.

Wholesale sales of passenger NEVs in China were 897,000 units in May, up 32.1 percent year-on-year and up 13.8 percent from April, the CPCA said.

NEV penetration at wholesale was 44.2 percent in May, up 10.2 percentage points from 34.0 percent a year earlier and up 4.3 percentage points from 39.9 percent in April.

Penetration of local Chinese brands of NEVs at wholesale in May was 59.8 percent, compared to 32.7 percent for luxury brands and 8 percent for mainstream JV brands.

Passenger NEVs exported from China were 94,000 units in May, down 4.0 percent year-on-year and down 18.8 percent from April, contributing 24.8 percent of passenger car exports.

BEVs contributed 78 percent of NEV exports in May, with exports of A0- and A00-class BEVs accounting for 61 percent of China-branded NEV exports, according to the CPCA.

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