China's passenger car sales drop 23.2% in June amid high fuel costs

China's passenger car retail sales in June reached 1.602 million units, marking a 23.2% decrease compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). However, sales increased by 6.1% compared to May. Year-to-date cumulative retail sales stood at 8.701 million units, a 20.2% decline from the previous year.

The downturn was significantly impacted by high fuel prices, which led to a 39% year-on-year drop in sales for gasoline-powered vehicles, including a 42% decrease for purely gasoline cars and a 7% drop for hybrid models. Sales of new energy vehicles also declined by 9% year-on-year, with domestic sales particularly affected by a decrease in subsidies.

While domestic brands saw an 18% year-on-year retail sales decrease, their market share expanded to 68.6%. Chinese brands performed more stably in the new energy vehicle and export markets. Conversely, sales for mainstream joint ventures fell 34% year-on-year, and luxury car sales decreased by 30%.

In contrast, China's passenger vehicle exports surged by 82.3% year-on-year in June, reaching 877,000 units. New energy vehicles accounted for 56.9% of these exports, an increase of 16 percentage points from the previous year. This strong export performance contributed to a 17.5 percentage point higher year-on-year growth rate in wholesale sales compared to retail sales.