In the first week of January, China's NEV retail sales were down 12 percent from the same period in December, while NEV wholesale sales were down 35 percent.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

The beginning of the year and the start of the month is usually a low point for vehicle sales in China, and the latest figures from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) show how this played out.

From January 1-7, retail sales of passenger new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China totaled 114,000 units, up 66 percent from the same period last year, but down 12 percent from the same period last month, according to data released on January 11 by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

In January 1-7, China's passenger NEV wholesale sales were 89,000 units, up 26 percent from the same period last year but 35 percent lower than the same period in December, according to the CPCA.

In January 1-7, China's retail sales of all passenger vehicles were 378,000 units, up 21 percent from the same period last year and up 14 percent from the same period last month.

This means that in January 1-7, China's NEV penetration at retail was 30.2 percent.

In the first week of January -- January 1-7 -- the average daily retail sales of passenger cars in China were 54,012 units.

During January 1-7, wholesale sales of passenger cars in China were 329,000 units, or a daily average of 47,018 units, up 14 percent from the same period last year and up 3 percent from the same period last month.

The CPCA didn't mention sales by specific automakers in the first week of January, though figures shared by Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) earlier this week provided some reference.

For the week of January 1-7, Li Auto's sales, measured by insurance registrations, were 4,300 units, down 69.50 percent from 14,100 units the week before.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) had 3,000 insurance registrations last week, down 47.37 percent from 5,700 in the previous week.

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) was at 1,400 last week, down 70.83 percent from 4,800 the week before.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) had 3,200 insurance registrations in China last week, down 79.75 percent from 15,800 the week before.

BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDF) had 44,400 insurance registrations in China last week, down 42.19 percent from 76,800 in the previous week.

China EV insurance registrations for week ending Jan 7: Nio 3,000, Xpeng 1,400, Li Auto 4,300, Tesla 3,200