China’s auto sales and production continued its surge in February as per data released by apex auto association in China. Sales increased a whopping 365pc to 1.45mn units in February, up for the eleventh straight month. Recovery in China has been the strongest after initially slowing down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Production in February was reported at 1.50mn units, 4.2 times higher than the previous year. In January-February, production was at 3.89mn up 88.9pc from the prior year period. Sales in the same period in 2021 was reported at 3.95mn units, up 76.2pc from 2020.
Comparison with 2019
Production and sales both zoomed in February as the same month last year was a weak base for comparison given the onset of COVID-19. To make a fair comparison, production in February 2021 is up 2.9pc from 2019 levels while sales is up 2.7pc from 2019 levels.
Passenger car segement
Passenger car sales market witnessed a production growth of 1.16mn units in February, down 39pc from the previous month, but up 4.8 times from the prior year. Sales of passenger cars is down 43pc to 1.15mn units from the prior month but up 4 times from the prior year. In Jan-Feb period, production of passenger cars were reported at 3.07mn units, up 87pc from the prior year period and sales was reported 74pc higher at 3.20mn units compared to the year prior period.
EV production and sales
Production and sales of electric vehicles in February stood at 124,000 units and 110,000 units, respectively. Production has jumped 7.2 times while sales increased 5.8 times from the prior year.