Aerial photo taken on Oct. 12, 2022 shows new energy vehicles (NEVs) at a factory of Chinese automaker Chery Holding Group Co., Ltd. in Wuhu City, east China's Anhui Province. From January to July this year, the city of Wuhu manufactured 156,100 NEVs, up 130.2 percent year on year. The sales of NEVs totaled 137,900 units, an increase of 36.8 percent year on year.(Photo: Xinhua)

Sales of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) in China are expected to reach 6.5 million this year, an industry association said on Thursday, as consumers’ enthusiasm is unleashed by the government’s favorable policies.

The figure is in line with the previous forecast, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said.

As the Chinese Spring Festival falls on January 22, 2023, which is much earlier than in previous years, the year-end car-selling hot season kicked off earlier and will drive up sales in December, the report said.

Some tax breaks are about to expire and some NEV makers have announced price hikes for next year, which are driving up sales now, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the CPCA.

Another factor is that rural areas generally see a car sales increase at the end of each year, as the winter comes, the autumn harvest finishes and many rural migrant workers in cities return home to prepare for the Spring Festival, Cui told the Global Times on Thursday.

Although total passenger car sales fell in November, the NEV sector saw its retail sales grow by 58.2 percent year-on-year to 598,000, and its wholesale rise by 70.2 percent to 728,000 units.

Tesla sold 69,098 Model Ys in November, ranking first in the Chinese market, followed by domestic producer Wuling Hongguang with 68,567 of its MINI series and BYD with 64,145 of its Song series. Domestic NEV carmakers’ sales accounted for 70.3 percent of the total.

From January to November, NEV sales doubled to 5.03 million units. 

As electric cars become increasingly popular in the country, more people in small and mid-sized cities will buy them, and this will become a major factor in boosting overall consumption, the industry report said.

Global Times