China Car Sales Fall 21.6% to 1.4M Units in April

China's passenger car sales plunged 21.6 percent year-on-year to 1.4 million units in April, the lowest figure for the month since 2022, extending a seven-month decline amid surging global oil prices that hammered demand for gasoline vehicles, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed Monday.

Sales of internal combustion engine cars fell by about a third, far exceeding expectations, while new energy vehicles, including electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, dropped 6.8 percent after four straight months of declines. Despite the domestic slump, these new energy vehicles accounted for 60.6 percent of total sales, the highest monthly penetration rate on record in mainland China.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, attributed the gasoline vehicle plunge to elevated oil prices. "The hit from higher oil prices has had a serious impact on the market," he said during a briefing. Demand for plug-in hybrids also proved sluggish, partly due to the end of trade-in subsidies and the reintroduction of a purchase tax on electric vehicles.

Exports provided a stark contrast, rising 80.2 percent overall and jumping 111.8 percent for new energy vehicles, fueled by overseas demand...