China sales increase 6.2% y/y to 1.97 million units in July

On August 11, 2017, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced vehicle production and sales results for July 2017.
Production totaled approximately 2.059 million units, a 5.0% decrease m/m basis and a 4.8% increase y/y.  Sales were approximately 1.971 million units, down 9.2% m/m and up 6.2% y/y.
Year-to-date (YTD) production from January through July reached 15.585 million units, a 4.7% increase y/y, while sales reached 15.325 million units, a 4.1% rise y/y. Growth rates for production and sales were favorable by 0.1% points and 0.3% points compared to January through June respectively.
Passenger car production in July was approximately 1.759 million units, an 4.7% decrease m/m and a 2.0% increase y/y. Passenger car sales were approximately 1.678 million units, down 8.4% m/m and up 4.3% y/y. Sales of small vehicles with 1.6-liter or smaller engines declined 1.0% y/y to approximately 1.113 million units, which accounted for 66.3% of all passenger vehicles sold in the month.
Commercial vehicle production in July was approximately 301,000 units, a 6.8% decrease m/m and a 24.7% increase y/y. Commercial vehicle sales were approximately 293,000 units, down 13.9% m/m and up 18.4% y/y.
As for new energy vehicles, production in July reached 59,000 units, a 52.6% increase y/y, and sales totaled 56,000 units, a 55.2% gain y/y. By vehicle type of new energy vehicles, electric vehicle (EV) production reached 46,000 units, up 69.6% y/y, and EV sales totaled 45,000 units, up 70.2% y/y. Production of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) totaled 12,000 units for a y/y increase of 10.0%, and PHEV sales totaled 12,000 units for a y/y rise of 16.3%.
Vehicle exports in July reached approximately 69,000 units, a m/m decrease of 14.1% and a y/y increase of 23.7%. YTD exports totaled approximately 465,000 units (up 25.9% y/y), with passenger vehicles reaching 321,000 units (up 36.2% y/y) and commercial vehicles reaching 145,000 units (up 7.9% y/y).
(CAAM press release from August 11, 2017)