China auto sales fall in July, while exports jump about 20% as automakers expand across the globe

Auto sales in China faltered in July, slipping 5% from a year earlier, the China Passenger Car Association said Friday, although exports jumped about 20% as makers of electric vehicles expanded into global markets.

Sales of passenger cars totaled about 2 million units, with about 1.6 million sold inside China, a year-on-year decline of 10%. Total exports of passenger vehicles jumped more than 20% to 399,000 units.

More than half of all vehicles sold were so-called “new energy vehicles,” or electrics and plug-in hybrids.

To try to boost demand, the government has expanded incentives to encourage drivers to trade in their older, gas and diesel-fueled cars and buy EVs.

While overall car sales have remained lackluster, sales of EVs rose nearly 30% in July from the year before to about 991,000. Of that total, 887,000 were sold in China and 103,000 were exported.

Sales of foreign automakers have stalled or fallen this year, attesting to intense price competition in an oversaturated market.

The share of auto sales held by Chinese automakers has been growing quickly and stood at two-thirds of all vehicle sales in July, as sales of their vehicles rose 10%, the report said.

Most vehicles sold in China in January-July were priced between 100,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan (about $14,000-$20,500), the industry association said. The largest share of EVs sold were priced between 150,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan ($20,500-$28,000).

China’s Chery Automobile, SAIC and Geely still export more vehicles, and most of them conventional fuel engine models, than EV makers like BYD and Tesla . But the latter are quickly gaining in the market. BYD exported 31,000 EVs and hybrids in July, while Tesla's exports totaled 28,000, the report said.

In the first seven months of the year, BYD exported 2.38 million EVs, to Tesla's 1.76 million, it said.

The lion's share of China's auto exports this year went to Russia, the report said, citing customs figures. Russia imported 478,000 Chinese-made vehicles in the first half of the year, nearly all of them with conventional internal combustion engines. Mexico imported the second most, at 226,000, followed by Brazil, with 171,000.