According to the report from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), car sales in China increased moderately in 2021, mainly due to increased sales of low-emission vehicles.
The data showed that last year car sales increased by 4.5% per annum, amounting to 20.5 million units. Deliveries of alternative fuel vehicles, including electric vehicles, reached 2.99 million units, while sales of Tesla Inc. cars in December amounted to a record 70,847 cars.
Meanwhile, CPCA revised up its sales forecast for new-energy vehicles for the current year to 5.5 million units from 4.8 million units, relying on easing pressure from the shortage of semiconductors and rising commodity prices.
The data also showed that for the whole of 2021, Tesla shipped more than 473,000 cars from its factory in Shanghai, with most of them entering the domestic market.
The CPCA reported that the total volume of car sales for the whole of 2021 was slightly below the level before the pandemic (in 2019, car sales amounted to 21.5 million units.). However, in December, passenger car sales fell by 7.7% compared to November amid a shortage of spare parts due to Covid.