By Jiahui Huang


China's vehicle sales fell sharply in February, dragged by weaker demand during the Lunar New Year holiday and an intensifying price war in the world's biggest auto market.

Retail sales of passenger cars in China declined to 1.095 million units, down 21% from a year earlier and 46% from January, the China Passenger Car Association said Friday. The association attributed the sharp decline to lower demand ahead of the Lunar New Year and some consumers bringing forward purchases to the start of the year. Consumers are also holding back after the latest round of price cuts as competition stiffens in China's market, the CPCA said.

Retail sales of new-energy cars, which include electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, fell 12% to 388,000 units. Tesla delivered 60,365 cars made at its Shanghai plant in February, its lowest monthly figure since late 2022, the data showed.

Exports of new-energy vehicles edged 0.1% higher to 79,000 units but fell 20% from the previous month. Tesla exported 30,224 made-in-China cars in February, down 4.25% from January. Exports of China passenger cars rose 18% from a year earlier to 298,000 units, the data showed.

The CPCA said it expects a sharp rise in production and sales this month compared with February, as many automakers will likely launch new products after the Lunar New Year. Government measures aimed at boosting consumption and lower raw-material costs for EV batteries will also support March's performance, it said.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-08-24 0134ET