Shanghai (ZXZC)- China auto outputs and sales reached 2.462 million and 2.526 million units last month, leaping 71.6% and 74.9% respectively from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

As of March 2021, China's monthly outputs and sales had risen year over year for twelve months in a row.

For the first quarter of 2021, China auto production and sales volumes reached 6.352 million and 6.484 million units, shooting up 81.7% and 75.6% over the year-ago period, while edging up 0.3% and 1.8% compared to the same period in 2019.

In March, PV outputs and sales amounted to 1.883 million and 1.874 million units respectively, both rising 77.4% from the previous year. Due to the low sales for the same period last year, the car, the SUV, the MPV and the minibus segments all scored robust sales growth last month. Notably, the SUV outperformed the car unit regarding both sales volume and growth rate.

For the first three months of the year, PV outputs and sales in China reached 4.955 million and 5.076 million units, zooming up 83.1% and 75.1% year over year.

Besides, the sales of locally-produced luxury vehicles increased 74.1% over a year ago to roughly 305,000 units, resulting in 829,000 units (+96.6% YoY) for the first-quarter volume.

Buoyed by the transition to the China Ⅵ emission standards, the overloading and oversize rectification, and the construction of infrastructures, both heavy-duty and light-duty truck segments achieved their highest-ever monthly sales in March, thereby contributing to the record high monthly sales for both trucks and commercial vehicles (CVs), said the CAAM.

Last month, automakers in China exported around 132,000 vehicles, posting a 45.5% hike from a year ago and achieving an all-time high volume for March auto exports.