China's passenger car sales surged 26.1% year on year to 1.4 million units in February after a 12% slump in January, driven by government subsidies and pent-up demand from the Lunar New Year break, Reuters reported Monday.
Gasoline cars outsold electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids for the third straight month, despite new energy vehicle sales growing 80% and making up 49% of total sales, according to the report.
The BYD (SHE:002594)-led price war is intensifying, with automakers racing to add smart features at no extra cost, Reuters wrote. Following suit were rivals Geely, Stellantis-backed Leapmotor (HKG:9863), and Toyota (TYO:7203).
Meanwhile, smartphone vendor Xiaomi (HKG:1810) sold 23,728 vehicles in February, outselling Tesla's sales of 26,777 units, which slumped to their lowest since November 2022, according to the report.
Overall car exports rose 11% in February, faster than the 3% gain in January, Reuters wrote.
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