BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s passenger car sales rose 8.3 percent in December, marking the end of a good year for auto giant BYD and other domestic brands that outperformed their foreign rivals.
Sales reached 2.37 million vehicles in December, up for the fifth consecutive month, although growth declined from a 25.5 percent jump in November, the China Passenger Car Association said Tuesday. (CPCA).
For all of 2023, sales increased 5.3% to 21.93 million vehicles, three years of consecutive growth for the world’s largest auto market.
This increase in sales comes against a backdrop of a fierce price war, with automakers seeking to attract consumers disconcerted by a hesitant economic recovery.
Last year, China most likely became the world’s largest exporter of passenger cars, surpassing Japan, thanks to advances made overseas by BYD and other local electric vehicle brands.
China’s passenger car exports increased by 62% in 2023 to a record 3.83 million vehicles.
Sales of fully electric vehicles in China grew 20.8% last year, following a 74.2% jump in 2022.
Sales of more affordable plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 82.5% last year after an increase of 160.5% in 2022.
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh, with contributions from Daniel Leussink in Tokyo; by Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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