Light-vehicle sales soar 26% in July
China's light-vehicle deliveries surged 26 percent to top 1.6 million vehicles last month, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The big gain last month is mostly a result of unusually low sales in July 2015, which followed the collapse of the domestic stock market, the association said.
In China, the stock market is dominated by small investors -- middle-class people who also prop up China's auto market. After the stock market collapsed in June 2015, light-vehicle sales dropped 6.6 percent the following month to 1.3 million vehicles.
Aside from China's very low vehicle sales a year earlier, the association also attributed July's robust sales to the tax incentive for small vehicles.
In October, the government halved the purchase tax on vehicles with engine displacements of 1.6 liters or smaller to 5 percent. The incentive will expire at the end of this year.
Last month, sales of crossovers and SUVs shot up 47 percent from a year earlier to 580,700 vehicles. Sedan sales rose 20 percent to 824,900, and multipurpose vehicle deliveries jumped 39 percent to roughly 153,600.
But as consumers migrated to bigger vehicles, microvan sales continued to shrink, plunging 38 percent year on year to 45,400.
Through July, China's light-vehicle sales exceeded 12.6 million vehicles, up 11 percent from the same period last year.
In China, the stock market is dominated by small investors -- middle-class people who also prop up China's auto market. After the stock market collapsed in June 2015, light-vehicle sales dropped 6.6 percent the following month to 1.3 million vehicles.
Aside from China's very low vehicle sales a year earlier, the association also attributed July's robust sales to the tax incentive for small vehicles.
In October, the government halved the purchase tax on vehicles with engine displacements of 1.6 liters or smaller to 5 percent. The incentive will expire at the end of this year.
Last month, sales of crossovers and SUVs shot up 47 percent from a year earlier to 580,700 vehicles. Sedan sales rose 20 percent to 824,900, and multipurpose vehicle deliveries jumped 39 percent to roughly 153,600.
But as consumers migrated to bigger vehicles, microvan sales continued to shrink, plunging 38 percent year on year to 45,400.
Through July, China's light-vehicle sales exceeded 12.6 million vehicles, up 11 percent from the same period last year.
