New-vehicle deliveries in China continue to forge ahead in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, advancing 13 percent to some 2.77 million in November, according to data the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released Friday. 

The final tally was higher than the industry trade group’s estimate released this week. 

Driven by massive infrastructure construction across the country, demand for commercial vehicles continues to outpace that for light vehicles.

Sales of commercial vehicles including trucks and buses jumped 18 percent to roughly 472,000 last month. 

Deliveries of light vehicles comprising sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses rose nearly 12 percent to approach 2.3 million.

China’s new-vehicle market has grown eight consecutive months after the virus outbreak was largely contained in mid-March.

Due to a 43 percent decline in first-quarter volume, total sales of new vehicles in the first 11 months slid 2.9 percent to 22.47 million.

Sales of commercial vehicles surged 21 percent to roughly 4.68 million through November while demand for light vehicles dropped 7.6 percent to some 17.79 million. 

Electrified vehicles

Demand for new electrified vehicles rebounded for the fourth straight month in November behind government subsidies and volumes generated by electric vehicle startups such as Nio, Xpeng Motor and Li Auto. 

Aggregate sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids soared 105 percent to approximately 200,000 last month. The tally includes some 167,000 EVs and 33,000 plug-in hybrids.  

Through November, total deliveries of EVs and plug-in hybrids increased 3.9 percent to top 1.1 million. The number includes roughly 894,000 EVs and 214,000 plug-in hybrids.

2020 Outlook

Xu Haidong, a senior official at China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told an annual conference of the association in Beijing that CAAM expects industry sales this year to tally 20.2 passenger vehicles and 5.1 million commercial vehicles, which include trucks and buses. China sold 25.77 million vehicles last year.

Xu said CAAM’s forecast for next year’s overall sales is 26.3 million vehicles, up around 4 percent from 2020, thanks to supportive government policies and discounts.

Xu said China expects to sell 1.8 million new-energy vehicles next year, up from 1.3 million this year and 1.2 million last year. NEVs include battery-powered electric, plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

CAAM also expects Chinese sales to hit 30 million vehicles in 2025.

With the global auto industry hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, China has become a ray of hope for automakers, including Volkswagen Group and General Motors Co. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have forecast higher profits on surging China sales.

Reuters contributed to this report.