At wholesale, NEV penetration was 29.4 percent in September, slightly lower than the previous month's record 30.1 percent. Retail penetration, however, reached a record 31.8 percent.

Wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China reached a record 675,000 units in September, the second consecutive month of more than 600,000 units, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

That's up 94.9 percent from a year ago and up 6.2 percent from August, the CPCA said.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continue to account for the vast majority of NEV sales, with wholesale sales of 507,000 units in September, up 70 percent from a year ago and accounting for 75.1 percent of all NEV sales.

Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) wholesale sales in September were 168,000 units, up 195 percent year-on-year.

Not only were NEV sales unaffected by the introduction of China's 50 percent purchase tax cut for mainstream internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, they improved more than expected sequentially, the CPCA said.

Policies introduced by local governments to encourage consumption have allowed mainstream car companies to continue to grow their production, allowing the traditionally slow season to see a strong performance, according to the CPCA.

From January to September, wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China were 4.341 million units, up 115.4 percent year-on-year.

In September, wholesale sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 2.293 million units, up 32.0 percent year-on-year and up 9.4 percent from August, according to the CPCA.

This means that in terms of wholesale sales, China's penetration of new energy passenger vehicles in September was 29.4 percent. This is slightly below last month's record 30.1 percent, however.

Local brands continue to see leading NEV penetration, at 47.9 percent in September, according to the CPCA. Luxury brands are at 29.1 percent, while mainstream joint venture brands are at just 3.9 percent.

In terms of retail sales, China's new energy passenger vehicle sales were 611,000 units in September, accounting for 31.8 percent of all passenger vehicle sales of 1,922,000 units, a record high penetration rate.

In terms of NEV penetration at retail, local brands were 55.2 percent, luxury brands 29.7 percent and mainstream joint venture brands 4.2 percent.

Looking ahead to October, the CPCA said there will be 18 working days in October this year, one day more than last October. In addition, some car companies have adjusted their production rhythm this year, which is conducive to incremental production.