Chinese automobile production and sales continued to decline in June - both month on month and year on year - amid a sustained global shortage of semiconductors, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said last week.
But the new energy vehicle (NEV) segment continued to strengthen last month, with sales notching a new record high.
China's NEV output increased by 14.3% from May to 248,000 units last month; this is also a year-on-year jump of 134.9%. Similarly, sales rose by 17.6% month on month and by 139.3% year on year to 256,000 units.
Despite the overall drop in automobile output and sales, exports of Chinese automobiles rose to a new high in June amid a recovery of the global market and improved competitiveness of Chinese brands, CAAM said.
CAAM data showed that carmakers in China exported 158,000 units of automobiles last month, up by 5% from May and 154.5% higher from June 2020.
The industry body expects China's auto sales to reach 27 million units for the whole 2021 - an increase of 6.7% from 2020 -...