A total of 11.5 million units means that China's NEV sales will exceed the 10 million mark for the first time in 2024, representing a growth rate of 22 percent.

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) production and sales are both expected to reach 11.5 million units for the whole year of 2024, Fu Bingfeng, secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), said today.

Fu mentioned the forecast at the 14th China Automotive Forum today, saying that China has become the main battleground for global competition in NEVs, according to local media outlet Cailian.

The 11.5 million units means that Chinese NEV sales will exceed the 10 million mark for the first time in 2024, representing a 22 percent growth rate, considering previously published data from CAAM showing that China sold about 9.45 million NEVs in all of 2023.

In the first half of this year, China's NEVs continued their positive momentum, with sales reaching 4.944 million units, up 32 percent year-on-year, and a market share of 35.2 percent, Fu noted.

For traditional automakers, they are facing continuously increasing operational pressure as they need to make fuel vehicles more fuel-efficient while tapping the NEV market, Fu said.

As NEVs have encountered difficulties and resistance to global penetration, some leading traditional carmakers have tended to be conservative in their electrification strategies, more so for Japanese brands, Fu noted.

European brands have been more active in their electrification transition, but have encountered specific difficulties, Fu said.

In June, China's NEV sales stood at 1,049,000 units, up 30.1 percent year-on-year and up 9.8 percent from May, data released by CAAM on July 10 showed.

That's the third time China's NEV sales have exceeded 1 million units in a single month, signaling a further recovery from the weak performance at the beginning of the year.

In November 2023, China's NEV sales reached 1,026,000 units, the first time they exceeded the 1 million mark. In December last year, the figure was a much higher 1,191,000.

CAAM's NEV sales are the wholesale sales of the vehicle companies, including sales in China and exports to overseas markets. NEVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel cell vehicles.

China's NEV ownership reaches 24.72 million by end of Jun