New vehicle sales in China rose by almost 12% year on year to 2.14m units in May 2020, according to preliminary data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
This was the second consecutive monthly rise for the Chinese vehicle market as it rebounded from sharp declines in the first quarter due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
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Vehicle sales in April increased by 4.4% year on year, according to the association.
The latest data, covering China's passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle segments, brought the five month cumulative total to 7.9m units – still 23.1% down on the same period of last year.
Sales in the last two months were driven by discounts and promotional activity as well as incentives by local governments to help the market recover.
Local analysts believe the recent rebound also reflected the fulfillment of pent up demand from the first quarter and that the market would likely slow in June.
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By GlobalDataDomestic carmaker Geely reported a 20% year on year sales rise to 108,822 units in May, resulting in cumulative five month sales of 420,317 units, while FAW-Volkswagen sales rose by 22% to 186,777 units last month.
Toyota Motor said its local joint ventures sold 166,300 vehicles in May, up 20.1% year on year, while Mazda's sales jumped by 31.6% to 22,886 units.
Honda reported a 1.7% year on year decline to 134,230 units.
