China gains two-digit growth in May auto outputs, sales

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China auto outputs and sales reached 2.187 million and 2.194 million units in May, jumping 18.2% and 14.5% from a year ago respectively, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The auto market is posting gradual rebound as consumers' pent-up demands have been unleashed thanks to the country’s effective pandemic prevention and control, companies' faster move on the resumption of work and production, and the launch of policies to stabilize employment and the incentives to spur car sales, said the association.

The YoY change in PV outputs and sales turned positive in May. Last month, automakers in China produced 1.66 million and sell 1.674 million PVs, achieving year-on-year increase of 11.2% and 7%.

The upturn in PV sales resulted from the substantial growth in SUV and minibus sales. However, the increase was somewhat offset by the downturn in car and MPV sales, especially the latter slumped 24.6% compared to the year-ago period.

The shock of the COVID-19 pandemic still sent the year-to-date PV sales into a notably decline. The MPV sector was still the one that suffered the steepest decrease.

Due to the rising performance in CV sales, China's auto market ended its prolonged downturn in April. Last month, there were 520,000 CVs sold across the country, a year-on-year hike of 48%. According to the CPCA, both heavy-duty and light-duty truck units hit another record high in terms of May sales.

The NEV sales in May dwindled 23.5% over a year ago to around 82,000 units. Specifically, the volumes of BEVs and PHEVs amounted to 64,000 units (-25.1%) and 18,000 units (-16.1%) respectively. Moreover, FCV (fuel cell electric vehicles) outputs and sales plunged 94.6% and 86.7% to 17 and 42 units.