Sales of new light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses in China shrank for the sixth straight month in October, dipping 5 percent to some 2.01 million, after slumping 17 percent in September.
The slowdown in the market’s contraction came as a result of a slight easing in the semiconductor chip shortage last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday.
On July 1, China upgraded emissions standards on heavy-duty trucks to State 6 rules, on par with Euro 6 standards.
With output curtailed by tighter emissions controls and the persistent chip shortage, deliveries of new commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses fell 30 percent to around 326,000 in October.
As a result, the overall market for new vehicles including light vehicles and commercial vehicles declined 9.4 percent to roughly 2.33 million.
In the first ten months, new-vehicle sales in China rose 6.4 percent to approach 21 million on the back of a 77 percent rebound in the first quarter.
Deliveries of light vehicles increased 8.8 percent to 16.9 million while sales of commercial vehicles dropped 2.5 percent to below 4.1 million in the first ten months.
Electrified vehicles
Sales of electrified vehicles industrywide continued to grow, surging 135 percent to nearly 384,000 last month.
The tally includes some 316,000 full electric vehicles and 68,000 plug-in hybrids, a jump of 130 percent and 150 percent, respectively.
Through October, deliveries of new electrified vehicles spiked 177 percent to top 2.54 million.
The tally is composed of around 2.11 million EVs and 437,000 plug-in hybrids, or an increase of 190 percent and 140 percent, respectively.