EV Industry

Discounts on passenger cars in China continued to expand in April, but the industry is seeing some positive changes heading into May.

As price wars fade and consumer wait-and-see sentiment eases, pent-up demand has been released, the CPCA said.

Independent economist Ren Zeping has suggested that China introduce a timetable to ban the sale of fuel cars within five years and have regions south of Hebei actively develop the new energy sector.

The Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited launched the Hang Seng Automobile Index today with a year-to-date return of about 9 percent.

Chinese consumers' intent to buy NEVs continues to rise, further squeezing the share of the fuel vehicle market, according to JD Power.

Irrational promotions in China's auto market since March have led to consumer wait-and-see, so auto consumption is still in a slow recovery process, the CAAM said.

Demand for NEVs is expected to pick up in the second quarter as lithium carbonate prices stabilize, according to analysts at CITIC Securities.

China's NEV penetration at retail was 32.3 percent in April, up 6.6 percentage points from 25.7 percent in April 2022 but lower than 34.2 percent in March.

China's retail sales of passenger NEVs in April were 529,000 units, up 87 percent year-on-year, but down 3 percent from March, according to the CPCA.

China's auto industry price war faded in April, easing consumer wait-and-see sentiment and releasing suppressed demand, the CPCA said.