Price wars intensified in China's auto market in April, with overall discounts slightly higher than in March, the CPCA said.

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market remained weak in April as price war continues.

In April, retail sales of passenger NEVs in China are expected to be around 720,000 units, up 37.1 percent year-on-year and flat from March, according to advance data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

CPCA is expected to release preliminary data on April NEV sales early next month and final figures in the middle of next month.

Survey shows that major automakers, which contribute around 80 percent of passenger car sales, have slightly lower retail targets in April compared to the previous month.

According to preliminary projections, retail sales of passenger cars were around 1.6 million units in April, down 1.5 percent year-on-year and down 5.3 percent from March, the CPCA said.

This means that NEV penetration is expected to be 45 percent in April.

The price war in China's auto market intensified in April, with traditional carmakers offering incentives in addition to NEV makers that cut prices at the end of March, the CPCA noted.

Retail terminal discounts in China's passenger car market were at 20.7 percent in mid-April, slightly higher than the discounts in March, CPCA said.

Major automakers averaged daily passenger car retail sales were 34,200 in the first week of April, down 8.3 percent year-on-year and down 3.6 percent from the same period in March.

They averaged daily retail sales of 38,800 units in the second week, down 12.9 percent year-on-year and down 3.2 percent from the same period last month.

Average daily retail sales in the third week are expected to be 48,000, a decrease of 12.5 percent year-on-year and down 1.1 percent from the same period last month.

Average daily retail sales for the fourth week are expected to be 83,100 units, up 13.4 percent year-on-year and up 2.3 percent from the same period last month.

China EV insurance registrations for week ending Apr 21: Nio 2,990, Tesla 5,160, BYD 59,470