Auto sales in China down 12.4% in June – industry association

BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) – Auto sales in China, the world’s largest auto market, fell 12.4% in June from the corresponding month a year earlier, data from the sector.

Overall sales amounted to 2.02 million vehicles in June, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The country sold 12.89 million vehicles between January and June, up 25.6% from levels a year ago.

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery-electric vehicles, plug-in gasoline-electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, maintained their strong momentum, jumping 139.3%, to 256 000 units sold last month.

NEV manufacturers such as Nio Inc (NIO.N), Xpeng Inc (9868.HK) and BYD (002594.SZ) are increasing their manufacturing capacity in China, encouraged by the government’s promotion of greener vehicles to reduce the pollution.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) sold 33,155 electric cars made in China in June.

Reporting by Yilei Sun and Tony Munroe; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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