China’s auto sales rose for a third consecutive month in April, up 14.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to Reuters.
Government-subsidised car trade-in programmes softened the impact of US tariffs on consumer sentiment. The government scheme, which provides larger subsidies for swapping old cars for NEVs than for petrol vehicles, covered 2.71 million units as of 24 April, official data showed.
As a result, passenger car sales totalled 1.78 million units last month, up 8.2 per cent from a year earlier, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids rose 33.9 per cent year-on-year to account for 50.8 per cent of total vehicle sales last month.
Meanwhile, car exports fell 2.2% in April from a year earlier, continuing an 8-per-cent drop in March, according to CPCA data. The focus of a long-running price war in the world’s largest car market shifted to next-generation autonomous driving features after BYD had announced in February that it would offer its “God’s Eye” driver assistance system as free standard equipment across its entire lineup.
