New vehicle sales in China rose by 14.6% to 2.07m units in June, according to local reports citing preliminary data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Passenger vehicle sales increased by almost 18% to close to 1.78m units, driven by a 41% jump in SUV sales to 632,000 units. Sales of new-energy vehicles more than doubled to 44,000 units, while commercial vehicle sales were flat at around 290,000 units.
Rising demand for entry-level SUVs has helped local Chinese automakers increase market share this year. Domestic brands reported a 25% rise in overall sales to 717,000 units in June, including a 62% rise in SUVs to 347,000 units – equivalent to more than half total SUV sales in the country.
In the first half of the year total vehicle sales rose by 8.1% to 12.83m units, including a 9.4% rise in passenger vehicle sales to just over 11m units – helped by ongoing tax cuts on small-engined vehicles.
Sales of new-energy vehicles more than doubled to 44,000 units last month, lifting year-to-date sales to around 170,000 units, according to reports.
GM and its local joint ventures reported an 11.2% sales rise to 273,563 units last month, lifting first-half sales by 5.3% to 1.8m units. Ford reported a 6% rise in first-half sales to 577,097 units and Mercedes-Benz sales jumped 32% to 229,137 units in the same period.
Toyota’s sales fell by 3.4% to 97,000 units in June, but were up by 16% at 592,100 units year-to-date, while Honda’s sales surged by 32% to 96,692 units last month and by 18% to 542,527 units year-to-date.
