Sales of new cars in China rose sharply in January

Sales of new cars in China, the world's largest car market, rose sharply in January, up 30 percent year on year. At the same time, January was the tenth month in a row when the car market in this Asian country was growing. China thus continues to lead the recovery of the global automotive industry from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest figures from the Chinese Automobile Manufacturers Association in January 2021, a total of 2.5 million new vehicles were sold on the domestic market. Sales of so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include not only electric cars but also hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, increased by 239 percent to 179,000 units in the period under review. NEV manufacturers such as domestic companies Nio and Xpeng, as well as foreign groups such as Tesla, are expanding production capacity in China, where the government is promoting greener vehicles to reduce air pollution.