China's passenger car market registered retail sales of 1.91 million units in September, up 7.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on October 13.

From January to September this year, China's passenger car market totaled 12.925 million units of retail sales, down 12.5 percent from the same period last year. The rate of decline narrowed by 3 percentage points from the 15.2 percent decline in January-August, which means the auto market is showing an accelerated recovery.

Luxury cars still lead the market, with luxury car retailing up about 33 percent year-on-year in September and market share remaining at a historically high level of about 15 percent.

CPCA Secretary General Cui Dongshu said that due to the upgrade of consumption, there is a demand for high-end models to be traded in, coupled with the promotion of luxury models and price cuts, leading the market segment to pick up.

In September, retail sales of Chinese brand passenger cars grew about 1% year-on-year, up 16% from August, with a market share of 34.9%.

Retail sales of mainstream joint venture brands increased by 7% year-on-year, up 12% from August. The Japanese brand's retail share was 24.5%, lower than the German brand's 26%; the share of American brands was stronger at 10.0%, up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

New energy passenger car sales rose sharply.CPCA data showed that China's wholesale sales of new energy passenger cars were 125,000 units in September, up 99.6% year-on-year and up 24.1% from August.

Among them, 22,000 plug-in hybrid models were sold, up 55 percent year-on-year.

Wholesale sales of pure electric models were 102,000 units, up 105% year-over-year.

Wholesale sales of ordinary hybrid passenger cars were 33,700 units, up 17 percent year-on-year.

Some segments of pure electric vehicles grew strongly in September, with 32,500 units sold in the A00 class, increasing market share to 32%. SAIC-GM Wuling sold 24,000 units, BYD 19,000 units, and Tesla China 11,000 units, making up the top three new energy vehicles.

Cui Dongshu said that China will enter a peak sales period for the passenger car market in October. Although the base on Oct. 8 last year was high, CPCA manufacturer retail data showed that sales in the first week of October this year have increased by more than 8 percent year-on-year, reflecting the overall strength of the market.

The steady recovery of the Chinese market reinforces the safe-haven effect of the Chinese car market in the risk of a second resurgence of the European epidemic in the future, he said.