Thanks to Chinese buyers’ prevailing flavor of SUVs, the sales of vehicles in China is up by 9.75% to 2,091,700 units in May. However, the growth of SUV sales has been slowing down while the sales of alternative energy vehicles are still expanding at a high pace, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

 

This May, the production of vehicles in Chinese market totaled 2,064,900 units, down by 5.08% against this April while up by 5.01 against last May. The sales totaled 2,091,700 units, down by 1.66% against this April while up by 9.75% against last May. The production and sales of passenger vehicles stood at 1,772,100 units and 1,793,000 units respectively, while that of commercial vehicles stood at 292,800 units and 298,600 units respectively.

 

To be noted, the sales of SUVs only stood at 627,200 units this May, up by 2.17% against this April while up by 36.25% against last May, accounting 35% of the total market. An auto expert believed that Chinese market will witness a deceleration in the growth of SUV sales in the next 2 years.

 

On the other hand, the sales of alternative energy vehicles stood at a new record high this year. According to China Automobile Dealers Association, the production of alternative energy vehicles totaled 37,000 units, up by 131.3%, while the sales of that increased 128.0% to 35,000 units. Among that, the production and sales of pure battery vehicles totaled 29,000 units, up by 177.0%, and 26,000 units, up by 161.6%, respectively. The production and sales of plug-in hybrids both stood at 9,000 units, up by 49.3% and 68.7% respectively.

 

For the first 5 month of 2016, the production of alternative energy vehicles totaled 132,000 units, up by 131.4% against last year, and the sales of that increased 134.1% to 126,000 units. The production and sales of pure battery vehicles totaled 99,000 units and 92,000 units, up by 175.1% and 176.2% respectively. The production and sales of plug-in hybrids stood at 33,000 units and 34,000 units, up by 55.8% and 65.0%.

 

The sales of alternative energy vehicles is expected to further expanding in the second half of 2016, stimulated by Chinese government’s restrictions on the purchase of conventional fuel vehicles in some cities.