The protracted worldwide scarcity of semiconductor chips was instrumental in vehicle sales in China declining in October, which was a drop for the sixth straight month, with a 9.4 per cent year on year fall in sales, shoed data from industry figures released recently.

According to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), all the auto companies combined sold a total of 2.33 million vehicles in October in China, the largest car market of the world.

After consumers avoid car and auto showrooms throughout the hot summer months, there is typically the highest sale experienced by the auto industry at this time of year, known as “Golden September, Silver October”.

Among the gloomy sale picture, there was one good performing auto sector – as the new energy vehicles (NEV) segment experienced strong demand and sale with a growth of 135 per cent in October at 383,000 vehicles, driven mainly by promotion by the Chinese government encouraging purchasing of greener vehicles to reduce emissions. This category of vehicles includes battery-powered electric vehicles, plug-in petrol-electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

According to data of export, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released recently, compared to the 56,006 electric cars that it sold in the previous month, the United States based electric car maker Tesla sold 54,391 China-made units in October, slightly lower than the previous month. The company’s September sales were its highest monthly sales in the Chinese market since it had begun manufacturing its electric cars at its factgory in Shanghai about a couple of years ago.

According to CAAM official Chen Shihua, chip supply is relaxing in the fourth quarter, allowing the country’s vehicle manufacturing to progressively increase.

Last month, Nio Inc sold 3,667 electric vehicles while Xpeng Inc delivered 10,138, both of which are Chinese domestic electric vehicle makers. In October, Volkswagen AG stated it sold over 12,000 ID. series electric vehicles in China.

(Adapted from MoneyControl.com)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Entrepreneurship, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Sustainability