New-vehicle sales continue to rebound as the national economy recovers from the coronavirus outbreak that ravaged China in the first quarter.
In July, industrywide sales increased for the fourth-straight month, jumping nearly 15 percent to 2.08 million, according to estimates the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released Tuesday.
Growth was led by demand for commercial vehicles, which have been bolstered by tremendous investment by the Chinese government in domestic infrastructure projects such as construction of new railways and power grids.
Sales of commercial vehicles surged 60 percent last month, while deliveries of light vehicles, including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses, rose 5.3 percent.
Because of a sharp contraction in the first quarter, new-vehicle sales across the country dropped 13 percent to around 12.3 million in the first seven months, according to the association’s estimates.
In the first seven months, commercial vehicle deliveries advanced 14 percent while light-vehicle demand slumped 19 percent.
The trade group didn’t provide a breakdown of sales of commercial vehicles and light vehicles for July or the first seven months. It is expected to release those numbers next week.
With the coronavirus outbreak that emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late January largely contained since mid-March, and the massive investment Beijing has injected into infrastructure projects, the Chinese economy grew 3.2 percent in the second quarter after contracting 6.8 percent in the first.