China sales increase 5.7% y/y to 2.71 million units in September

On October 12, 2017, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced vehicle production and sales results for September 2017. Both production and sales were up on an m/m and y/y basis, with significant rises on m/m. Growth rates of production and sales for Jan-Sep period continued to remain in the range of 4-5%. Among them, the growth rates of passenger vehicles remain lower at about 3% y/y while commercial vehicle maintained healthy at 16-18%.
Production for September increased by 27.6% m/m, and 5.5% y/y to 2.671 million units, while sales rose by 23.9% m/m and 5.7% y/y to 2.709 million units.
Total rates for the period Jan-Sep showed production up y/y by 4.8% to 20.349 million units, while sales improved y/y by 4.5% to 20.225 million units.
Passenger vehicle production for September rose by 28.4% m/m, and 2.9% y/y to 2.297 million units. Sales grew by 24.9% m/m and 3.3% y/y to 2.343 million units. Sales of passenger vehicles with engines of 1.6 liters or less were flat y/y at 1.617 million units, and their share of the total passenger vehicle market declined by 2.2% points y/y to 69.0%.
Commercial vehicle production in September increased by 23.3% m/m and 25.0% y/y to 374,000 units. Commercial vehicle sales rose 17.9% m/m and 23.9% y/y to 367,000 units.
Production of new energy vehicles (NEVs) for September shot up by 79.7% y/y to 77,000 units, while NEV sales also rose dramatically by 79.1% y/y to 78,000 units. Among NEVs, EV production sharply increased by 85.2% y/y to 64,000 units, and sales increased by 83.4% y/y to 64,000 units. Production of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) also increased by 57.6% y/y to 13,000 units, while sales showed a similar rise of 61.9% y/y to 14,000 units.
Exports continued their healthy trend for September and showed an increase of 13.0% m/m and 38.9% y/y to 83,000 units. Total exports for the Jan-Sep period went up 26.3% from the same period last year to 623,000 units. Breaking down by segment, passenger vehicle exports improved by 35.6% y/y to 434,000 units, while commercial vehicle exports increased by 9.0% to 188,000 units.
(CAAM press release from October 12, 2017)