By Jiahui Huang


China's vehicle sales made a strong start to the year but subdued consumer sentiment during the Lunar New Year period could put the brakes on momentum.

Retail sales of passenger cars in the world's biggest auto market rose 57% from a year earlier to 2.035 million units, the China Passenger Car Association said Thursday. That compared with the 38% drop seen in January 2023, when the country was still feeling the after-math of pandemic lockdowns.

Retail sales of new-energy cars, which include electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, rose 102% in January to 668,000 units. Tesla delivered 71,447 cars made at its Shanghai plant in January, the data showed.

China has become the world's largest car exporter, surpassing Japan in 2023. Exports of passenger cars rose 51% on year in January to 355,000 units, continuing the strong performance seen since late last year. Exports of new-energy vehicles climbed 27%.

Though the Lunar New Year period is typically good for car sales, drawing in first-time buyers, that's unlikely to be the case this year, the CPCA said.

Consumer sentiment has been conservative due to the recent downturn in the stock market and continued property sector weakness, it said.

Against this backdrop, the CPCA said it expects February vehicle sales figures will be the lowest of the year.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-08-24 0226ET