China's automobile industry has shown steady growth in 2024, with vehicle production and sales rising consistently during the first nine months of the year, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on Saturday.
During the January-September period, the country's auto production reached approximately 21.47 million units, up 1.9 percent year on year.
Auto sales totaled 21.57 million units, marking a 2.4 percent increase from the same period last year. Notably, both production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) surpassed 8.3 million units, with year-on-year growth exceeding 30 percent in both categories, according to CAAM's data.
CAAM stated that within the structure of automobile production and sales, NEVs now account for nearly 40 percent of total vehicle sales.
China's passenger vehicle market has been gradually picking up, with retail sales growing stronger in the third quarter of this year, thanks to government policies encouraging vehicle trade-ins and manufacturers launching new models during "Golden September and Silver October", a peak period for car sales, said Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the Association.
In August, China increased the financial stimulus to encourage consumers to scrap their old vehicles and buy new ones. Subsidies for trade-ins of new-energy passenger vehicles have doubled from 10,000 yuan (about 1,414 U.S. dollars) to 20,000 yuan, while those for trade-ins of fuel passenger vehicles have been lifted from 7,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan.
At the same time, the export of finished vehicles has also seen steady growth. In the first three quarters, China's automobile exports reached 4.312 million units, a 27.3 percent year-on-year increase. Among them, exports of NEVs totaled 928,000 units, up 12.5 percent year on year.
China's auto sector shows strong growth momentum in first nine months
