China's passenger car retail sales fell in July from June, but the NEV market was bolstered by fast-growing sales of hybrid models, the CPCA said.

China's retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) are expected to be flat this month compared to June, but NEVs' share is set to rise further as gasoline vehicle sales decline.

In July, China's retail sales of passenger NEVs are expected to be around 860,000 units, flat from June, according to estimates released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The penetration rate of NEVs in retail sales in China is expected to further increase to 49.1 percent in July, which will be a new record high, according to CPCA.

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

The latest survey showed that major automakers, which contribute about 80 percent of passenger car sales, aimed for a retail target in July that's 1.7 percent lower year-on-year and 2.2 percent lower than in June, the CPCA said.

According to preliminary projections, passenger car retail sales are expected to be around 1.73 million units in July, down around 2 percent both year-on-year and month-on-month, according to the CPCA.

For the NEV market, the rapid growth of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) has brought support, the CPCA said.

As competition in the market intensified, the vicious cycle of price wars made the benefits of price cuts very limited, according to the CPCA.

BMW withdrew from the price war in mid-July to ease pressure on dealers, a move that eased the wait-and-see attitude in consumers to a certain extent, favoring further rebound of the auto market, the report said.

Major automakers' daily average passenger car retail sales in the first week of July were 39,200 units, up 6.4 percent year-on-year and up 8.8 percent from a month earlier.

Their average daily retail sales in the second week were 43,300 units, down 0.6 percent year-on-year while up 4.3 percent from the same week last month.

Average daily retail sales for the third week are expected to be 50,900, down 1.3 percent year-on-year and down 14 percent from the same week last month.

Average daily retail sales for the fourth week are expected to be 79,600 units, down 6.2 percent year-on-year and down 10.9 percent from the same week last month.

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