BEIJING: Vehicle sales in China fell 3per cent in May from the same month a year earlier, snapping a streak of 13 consecutive months of gains, industry data showed on Friday.
Overall sales in the world’s biggest car market totaled 2.13 million vehicles in May, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.
Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery-powered electric vehicles, plug-in petrol-electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, maintained their strong momentum, jumping 160per cent, with 217,000 units sold in the month.
NEV makers, such as Nio Inc, Xpeng Inc and BYD, are expanding manufacturing capacity in China, encouraged by a policy of promoting greener vehicles to cut pollution.
Tesla Inc sold 33,463 China-made electric cars in May.
(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Tony Munroe; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill)
