People view new energy vehicles on display at the fourth World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Nov. 19, 2021.

China's retail sales of passenger cars in March reached 1.579 million units, an increase of 25.6 percent over February, but down 10.5 percent year-on-year, as part of the country's logistical network was impacted due to the recent flare-ups of COVID-19 across the country.

From January to March, retail sales totaled 4.915 million units, falling by 230,000 units year-on-year, with the prospects remaining murky, according to an article released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Monday.

According to the CPCA, the recovery of chip supply from February has laid a better basis for production and sales' recovery. Therefore, the auto market is likely to show a stable upward trend in coming months with the release of a number of new vehicles after the Spring Festival.

However, entering March, the country is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years, and all provincial-level regions moved to cut off coronavirus transmissions among local communities. 

Car transactions in Northeast China's Jilin, North China's Hebei, East China's Shandong, South China's Guangdong Province and Shanghai have all been affected, with the logistical network disrupted by anti-pandemic restrictive measures, resulting in retail losses. 

In March, passenger car production reached 1.823 million units, down 0.3 percent year-on-year. 

Data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers also showed that last month, car production and sales stood at 2.241 million and 2.234 million units, narrowing 9.1 percent and 11.7 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the CPCA, said that China's auto production is projected to edge down by about 20 per cent because of the pandemic, while the auto sector will continue to face an uncertain future in the coming months.

However, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) continue to increase on the back of strong momentum. From January to March, sales of NEVs totaled 1.19 million, surging 145.4 percent from last year, the CPCA said.

And, 13 auto enterprises saw their sales in March surpass 10,000 units, with BYD selling 104,338 units and Tesla China selling 65,814 units in China's mainland market.

According to a statement sent to the Global Times, Tesla is seeing strong demand in Chinese market, as it sold more than 180,000 cars in the first quarter in the country.

The CPCA noted that in April, auto retail sales are expected to edge down from March, as employees from small and medium-sized auto parts enterprises are facing great pressure under pandemic restrictions. Nevertheless, affected by steadily rising fuel prices, more auto buyers will choose to buy electric cars, the CPCA said.

Global Times