BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s passenger vehicle sales returned to year-on-year growth in August as rebates and tax breaks for greener and electric vehicles buoyed consumers, although economic growth remains weak .
Car sales rose 2.2% year on year last month to 1.94 million units, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released on Friday, the first year-on-year rise annually since May.
Sales were up 8.5% from July. Over the first eight months of the year, sales increased by 1.8% to reach 13.38 million units.
Supported by deep discounts, Tesla’s share of China’s EV market nearly doubled in August, from 7.5% in July to 13.2%, according to Reuters calculations based on CPCA data. .
Tesla sold 64,694 cars in China in August, the data showed, while deliveries of its China-made Model Y reached 65,316 last month, outpacing sales of passenger vehicle models.
Lower rates on existing mortgages should help revive the auto market, CPCA General Secretary Cui Dongshu said, even as slowing economic growth affects consumer spending.
Sales of new energy vehicles, which have underpinned auto sales growth in China, rose 34.5 percent in August, accounting for 36.9 percent of total car sales. Sales rose 11.8% in August compared to July.
(Report Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Augustin Turpin, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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