Wholesale new-vehicles shipments in China bounced back to approach 2.16 million in April, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Thursday.

The volume constitutes a 77 percent jump from a year earlier when Shanghai and Changchun, two of China’s auto production centers, were both locked down to contain resurging coronavirus cases, the CAAM said. 

Last month, shipments of new sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses jumped 79 percent year on year to some 1.81 million. 

Deliveries of commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks surged 61 percent to 348,000. 

Through April, new-vehicle shipments industrywide rose 7.1 percent from a year earlier to top 8.2 million, with light-vehicle sales gaining 6.8 percent to 6.94 million while commercial-vehicle demand increased 8.8 percent to 1.29 million.

Electrified vehicles
Demand for electrified vehicles remains strong, with shipments last month soaring 110 percent to around 636,000. 

April wholesale volume of full electric vehicles surged 104 percent to some 471,000 while the number of plug-in hybrids shot up 145 percent to about 165,000.

Through April, shipments of new electrified vehicles industrywide jumped 43 percent to exceed 2.2 million, with EV shipments rising 31 percent to exceed 1.62 million and plug-in hybrid deliveries rallying 89 percent to around 598,000.

Exports
China’s vehicle exports also keep forging ahead on demand for electrified vehicles overseas. 

In April, vehicle exports from China jumped 170 percent to around 376,000. The tally includes some 100,000 electrified models, 9.4 times the volume a year earlier.

Light-vehicle exports in April spiked 220 percent to 316,000 while commercial-vehicle exports advanced 42 percent to roughly 60,000.

Through April, China vehicle exports grew 89 percent to 1.37 million, including 348,000 electrified products, a jump of 170 percent from a year earlier.

Light-vehicle exports rallied 220 percent to 1.14 million while commercial-vehicle exports gained 32 percent to some 228,000 in the first four months.