New vehicle sales in China increased by 11.6% to 2.81m units in January from 2.52m units a year earlier, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The association said more working days during the month compared with last year, due to this year's lunar new year holidays falling in February, helped lift sales. This is expected to negatively affect February volume, however.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

CAAM expects total vehicle sales to rise by around 3% to just under 30m units in 2018 – a similar growth rate to 2017. 

Last month passenger vehicle sales amounted to 2.46m units, up 10.7% from a year earlier. This included a 7.3% rise in passenger car sales to 1.16m units and a 23% jump in SUV sales to 1.08m units while MPV sales fell by more than 13% to 179,000 units.

Sales of commercial cars were up by 18% at 353,000 units last month.

See Also:

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), mostly electric and hybrid vehicles, expanded more than fivefold to 38,470 units – with electric vehicles alone amounting to 33,848 units.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

The association expects sales of NEVs to increase to around 1m units this year from 777,000 units in 2017, rising to 2m units by 2020. By 2025 it expects them to account for 20% of total vehicle sales in China.