With 1.84 million vehicles, China’s car dealers sold a little less than in the previous month, but a good fifth more than in July 2021, according to data published in Beijing on Tuesday by the industry association PCA. Electric vehicles accounted for more than a quarter of sales, at 486,000.
The PCA is therefore now anticipating growth in e-car sales to 6 million for the year as a whole, after the previous target of 5.5 million. That would be twice as many as in the previous year – and the association still speaks of a cautious forecast.
July marks the second consecutive month of growth after only two months of retail sales growth since May 2021. The tough corona lockdowns in China and the lack of chips made things difficult for the industry. Most recently, however, the authorities tried to stimulate the market again with purchase incentives, for example for low-emission vehicles.
While the industry association PCA (China Passenger Car Association) measures the sale of passenger cars to end customers, the manufacturers’ association CAAM records the so-called wholesale sales of manufacturers to dealers. July CAAM data is pending. Since China is the most important single market for Volkswagen (included Audi and Porsche), bmw and Mercedes-Benz, the latest data is a positive signal for German automakers.