Light-vehicle sales rose in February from a year earlier when the coronavirus disrupted output and demand.
It was the 11th straight month of gains for the industry.
But year-to-date volume remains lower than the same period in 2019, indicating the market has yet to fully recover from pre-pandemic levels, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Thursday.
CAAM expects vehicle sales to rise by about 4 percent this year, but has warned that a worldwide shortage of microchips may curtail production at some Chinese automakers early in the year.
New car and light-truck deliveries approached 1.16 million last month, 4.1 times the tally a year earlier when the coronavirus outbreak shuttered businesses and showrooms across the country.
In the first two months, volume surged 74 percent to top 3.2 million. But that figure is 1.4 percent lower than the same period two years ago, CAAM said.
Behind massive infrastructure construction projects the Chinese government launched in the post-pandemic period, sales of commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses remain robust.
February deliveries of new commercial vehicles soared 250 percent to about 299,000, with year-to-date volume jumping 86 percent to roughly 757,000.
Unlike new light-vehicle sales, new commercial-vehicle demand in the first two months was 25 percent higher than the same period in 2019, CAAM said.
Taken together, China’s new-vehicle sales in January shot up 360 percent from a year earlier to nearly 1.46 million, with year-to-date volume jumping 76 percent to around 3.96 million.
Electrified vehicles
New electrified-vehicle deliveries approached 110,000 last month, 5.8 times the figure a year earlier. The tally includes roughly 92,000 full electric vehicles and 17,000 plug-in hybrids.
In the first two months, some 289,000 new electrified vehicles were sold across the country, a surge of 320 percent from a year earlier. The number includes 243,000 EVs and 46,000 plug-in hybrids.