Wholesale new-vehicle shipments in China topped 2.45 million in March, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday, representing a 9.7 percent rebound from a year earlier when Chengdu and Changchun, two major auto production centers, were locked down amid resurging coronavirus cases.
Last month, shipments of new cars and light trucks such as sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses increased 8.2 percent to approach 2.02 million.
Shipments of new commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks surged 34 percent to 434,000.
In the first quarter, new-vehicle shipments industrywide dropped 6.7 percent from a year earlier to below 6.1 million, dragged down by weak sales in the first two months.
Light-vehicle sales declined 7.3 percent to 5.14 million while commercial-vehicle demand dipped 2.9 percent to 938,000 in the latest quarter.
Electrified vehicles continue to gain ground in the new-vehicle market, with March shipments rising 35 percent to roughly 653,000.
March shipments of full electric vehicles rallied 24 percent to some 490,000 while the volume of plug-in hybrids spiked 84 percent to around 163,000.
Through March, wholesale new electrified vehicle shipments industrywide jumped 26 percent to some 1.59 million.
In the period, EV shipments rose 14 percent to exceed 1.15 million while the volume of plug-in hybrids rallied 74 percent to around 433,000.
Despite the rebound in March shipments, the trade group said the domestic new-vehicle market faces an uncertain outlook after a decade-long subsidy program for electrified vehicles and a six-month sales tax cut on gasoline cars were both terminated at the end of 2022.
It is urging the government to release fresh policy incentives to ensure the expansion of the domestic auto market in 2023, the trade group said.