- China's retail sales of passenger NEVs in March reached 848,000 units, surging 82.6% from February, but falling 14.4% year-on-year.
- Passenger NEV exports from China in March reached 349,000 units, marking a 139.9% year-on-year surge.
China's new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales saw a month-on-month improvement in March, although they continued to decline year-on-year.
Domestic retail sales of passenger NEVs in March totaled 848,000 units, surging 82.6% from February, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Thursday.
This represents a 14.4% year-on-year decline, marking the third consecutive month of year-on-year contraction.
In China, the NEV category encompasses multiple technology pathways, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel cell vehicles.
Retail sales of BEVs declined 11.7% year-on-year to 568,000 units in March, but jumped 104.6% from the previous month.
BEVs accounted for 66.98% of total NEV retail sales in March, up from 59.91% in February.
Retail sales of hybrid models, including PHEVs and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), fell 18.84% year-on-year to 280,000 units in March, while rising 50.54% from February.
Excluding EREVs, retail sales of PHEVs stood at 204,000 units in March, accounting for 24.06% of overall NEV retail sales.
PHEV retail sales dropped 23.5% year-on-year, marking the ninth consecutive month of declines for the category, though they rose 52.1% month-on-month.
Retail sales of EREVs reached 76,000 units in March, representing 8.96% of total NEV retail sales. The figure was down 6.0% year-on-year but up 44.1% from February.
The broader passenger vehicle market also faced downward pressure in March. China's total passenger vehicle retail sales fell 15.0% year-on-year to 1.648 million units, though they rebounded 59.4% from February.
Despite the year-on-year contraction in overall auto sales, the penetration rate of NEVs in the domestic retail market remained resilient at 51.5% in March, edging up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier.
Chinese domestic brands posted the strongest NEV penetration rate in the retail market at 73.5% in March. Luxury brands saw a penetration rate of 33.9%, while mainstream joint-venture brands lagged at just 6.2%.
Wholesale shipments of passenger NEVs in China rose 1.1% year-on-year to 1.144 million units in March, and were up 58.3% from February.
Different powertrain types exhibited divergent trends in March, with BEVs underperforming the hybrid segment, which includes PHEVs and EREVs.
Wholesale shipments of BEVs fell 2.0% year-on-year to 695,000 units in March. However, compared with a holiday-shortened February, BEV wholesales achieved a 65.0% month-on-month increase.
By contrast, PHEV wholesales reached 352,000 units in March, posting a 6.1% year-on-year increase and a 43.1% gain from the previous month.
EREV wholesales stood at 96,000 units in March, registering a 7.7% year-on-year growth and a 74.8% sequential surge.
BEVs accounted for 60.8% of total NEV wholesales in March, while PHEVs and EREVs captured 30.8% and 8.4% of the share, respectively.
The Chinese auto market was characterized by a reduced number of new model launches in the first quarter. Meanwhile, rising component manufacturing costs and higher vehicle ownership expenses have somewhat restrained the release of consumer demand, the CPCA noted.
However, the export market continued to provide a strong bright spot for China's auto industry.
Exports of passenger NEVs from China reached 349,000 units in March, a massive 139.9% year-on-year surge and a 29.6% increase from February.
This pushed NEVs to account for 50.2% of total passenger vehicle exports in March, a significant jump of 13.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
