(Beijing) Electric vehicles represented a quarter of total car sales in China, the world’s largest automobile market, in August, according to figures published Friday by a professional federation.
A total of 1.92 million passenger cars were sold last month, up 2.5 percent year on year, the China Passenger Car Manufacturers Federation (CPCA) said.
With 551,000 fully electric vehicles sold in August, sales for this type of model are still showing strong growth in the huge Chinese market (11.2% year-on-year).
More than 80,000 hybrid models have also found buyers.
Dozens of innovative local brands have emerged in recent years in China and they compete with foreign manufacturers who are struggling to adapt.
In August, the Chinese BYD was once again the undisputed electric champion in its country (more than 274,000 cars sold), far ahead of the American Tesla (84,159), which has a gigantic factory in Shanghai and is preparing the establishment of a second to manufacture batteries.
BYD, which markets its cars in some fifty countries, including Europe, is one of the multitude of Chinese manufacturers to now turbocharge abroad.
Logically, exports of Chinese new energy vehicles increased by 1.7% year-on-year.
China became the world’s largest exporter of cars in the first half of the year, surpassing Japan for the first time, according to Chinese Customs.
Chinese manufacturers had exported some 2.7 million vehicles by the end of July, according to Customs.
The Chinese electricity market has experienced rapid development in recent years, driven in particular by purchasing subsidies, which however disappeared at the end of December 2022.
To keep up the pace, manufacturers have launched a price war in recent months.
At the same time, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced in June the start of a national campaign to encourage the purchase of electric cars which should end in December.
In addition to discounts and aid, the ministry recommends accelerating the installation of recharging stations in rural areas.
This is one of the government’s targeted support measures to counter the economic slowdown.