At retail, NEVs reached a record 36.3 percent penetration rate in November.

Retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles (NEVs) in China rose 58.2 percent to 598,000 units in November, up 7.8 percent from October, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continue to account for the majority of NEV sales, with 434,000 units sold at retail in November, accounting for 72.6 percent of all NEV sales.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) accounted for 164,000 units of retail sales in November, or 27.4 percent of all NEV sales.

Retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 1.65 million units in November, down 9.2 percent year-on-year and 10.5 percent from October, the first time since 2008 that figure has declined sequentially, according to the CPCA.

It also means that at retail, China's NEVs reached a record 36.3 percent penetration rate in November, up 15 percentage points from 20.8 percent in the same month last year.

Among them, the penetration rate of NEVs among local Chinese brands was 56.5 percent, luxury brands was 32.1 percent, and mainstream joint venture brands was only 5.2 percent.

In November, sales of both NEVs, as well as traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, were impacted by Covid controls in some regions, the CPCA said.

From January to November, retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China were 5.03 million units, up 100.1 percent year-on-year.

In terms of wholesale, China's new energy passenger vehicle sales reached a record 728,000 units in November, up 70.2 percent year-on-year and up 7.9 percent from October.

China's new energy passenger vehicle penetration rate at wholesale was also a record 35.9 percent in November, up 5.9 percentage points from 30.8 percent in October.

In January-November, China's new energy passenger vehicle wholesale volume was 5.74 million units, up 104.6 percent year-on-year.

Due to the disruption of the Covid outbreaks, demand in China's passenger car market was severely below expectations, and most manufacturers were unable to achieve the expected fourth-quarter sales, the CPCA said.

For the NEV market, the impending withdrawal of purchase subsidies is helping to promote the early release of consumer demand, so the market is expected to reach sales of 6.5 million units, the CPCA said.