SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s auto sales in September rose 25.7% from a year earlier, a slower pace of growth compared to the previous two months when electric car sales surged because of government incentives.
Sales in the world’s biggest car market increased to 2.61 million vehicles last month, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed on Tuesday.
While sales are still buoyant compared to the year before, the slower growth from July and August suggests falling demand in a weakening economy. Sales in the first half of the year were impacted by stringent lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities.
September sales of new energy vehicles (NEV), which include pure electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, increased 93.9% from the previous year.
Total auto sales for the first nine months of 2022 rose 4.4% from the same period in 2021.
CAAM tracks broader auto sales including passenger vehicles, buses and trucks. The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), which focuses on retail sales of cars, said earlier on Tuesday that China’s passenger car sales in September rose 21.2% to 1.95 million.
CPCA said on Sunday that Tesla’s deliveries of China-made EVs in September rose 8% from August, smashing its monthly record.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christian Schmollinger)
