China's auto market expects new records following strong November data

China's automobile sector exceeded market expectations in November, with double-digit year-on-year growth reported for both the production and sales of vehicles, laying the ground for record-breaking annual figures, the latest data has shown.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a report on Monday that vehicle sales rose 27.4 percent year on year and 4.1 percent month on month in November, reaching 2.97 million units.

Meanwhile, vehicle output in the same month hit 3.09 million units, up 29.4 percent year on year and 7 percent compared to the previous month, the data showed.

November data exceeds market expectations

"China's automobile market continued to perform well in November," said Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the association.

In the report, the association said that the vehicle market's performance exceeded expectations in November when monthly vehicle output hit a record high while sales reached almost 3 million units.

During the first 11 months of this year, vehicle production and sales hit 27.11 million and 26.94 million units, growing by 10 percent and 10.8 percent year on year, the data showed.

In November, the country's vehicle exports hit 482,000 units, up 46.3 percent year on year, even though the volume dipped by 1.1 percent compared to the previous month, the data showed. Exports totaled 4.41 million units from January-November period, up 58.4 percent year on year.

"China's economy has generally maintained a positive trend, with more consumption highlights in key areas. Market demand for automobiles and related industries has been released rapidly, and business confidence has continued to improve," the association said in the report.

It said that positive factors have increased with the concerted force of various policies, which will boost the economy while ensuring the quality of growth.

Chen said that as policies continue to have an impact, and as auto shows and promotional activities in various regions continue, the auto sector is expected to extend its growth momentum in December, and auto production and sales are expected to hit record highs this year.

Booming new energy vehicles market

Data released Monday also revealed that during the January-November period, the new energy vehicles production and sales hit 8.43 million and 8.30 million units, surging 34.5 percent and 36.7 percent year on year.

In November alone, production and sales of new energy vehicles hit 1.07 million and 1.03 million units, respectively, up 39.2 percent and 30 percent year on year, data showed. The association said in the report that it also marked the first time that monthly production and sales of new energy vehicles both surpassed 1 million units.

In terms of exports, the nation exported 1.09 million new energy vehicles in the first 11 months of 2023, up 83.5 percent year on year.

In November, exports of new energy vehicles hit 97,000 units, up 1.6 percent year on year, with the export volume decreasing 21.8 percent from previous months, the data showed.

The association also disclosed the automobile manufacturing sector's industrial value-added output for October in Monday's report, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The sector's industrial value-added output grew 10.8 percent year on year during the month, with that growth being 5.7 percentage points higher than that of the broader manufacturing sector in the same month.

During the first 10 months of this year, the sector's total business revenues came in at 8.05 trillion yuan (about 1.13 trillion US dollars), up 10.3 percent year on year, with profits totaling 394.64 billion yuan, up 0.5 percent, the data showed.