Shanghai (ZXZC)- China exported a total of 487,700 complete vehicles during the first half of 2019, a year-on-year drop of 4.69%, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), one of most authoritative auto associations in China.

Vehicle export volume in June reached 95,713 units, edging down 3.32% from a year ago, significantly smaller than the -16.35% decline in May export number.

For the first six months, there were 328,130 PVs exported to overseas markets, a decrease of 12.17% over the previous year. Of that, export volume of cars, MPVs, SUVs and minibuses amounted to 111,739 units, 7,471 units, 194,445 units and 14,475 units respectively.

However, the CV exports for the first half jumped 15.54% from the prior-year to 159,575 units.

Among the 10 top OEMs by Jan.-Jun. export volume, only four automakers achieved year-on-year growth. SAIC Motor was still the champion with an absolute advantage over the runner-up Chery Automobile. Geely Automobile boasted the biggest year-on-year surge thanks to the participation of Proton.

A total of 5,339 new energy vehicles (NEVs) were exported through June, a blooming increase of 105% compared with a year earlier. The BEV export volume slid 9% to 2,310 units, while PHEV's volume skyrocketed 368% year-over-year to 3,021 units. It is noteworthy that fuel cell vehicles were exported for the first time—only 8 units, but very significant.

The association said the remarkable growth in PHEV's exports should be attributed to the embrace of Daqing Volvo. Since the automaker was not included in the statistics before 2019, it is not available to calculate its growth rate.

The Jan.-Jun. volume of vehicles exported to Mexico & the Caribbean and Chile surpassed 40,000 units. Among vehicles output to Mexico & the Caribbean, 42,905 units came from SAIC Motor, accounting for 91% of the whole volume for this region.