Automotive market: combustion engines struggle, electric vehicles grow

China’s car market continues to weaken. In July, passenger car sales continued to perform below the previous year’s level. With a minus of 6.4 percent, the decline was even stronger than in June, according to the Passenger Car Association (PCA) on Tuesday. Even when including commercial vehicles such as minivans, the overall market was on the decline. CAAM, the state-affiliated automakers’ association, recently reported a nearly 14 percent month-on-month decline in vehicle sales to 1.82 million units. At the same time, CAAM stressed that despite the decline in June and July, vehicle sales were still up by almost one-fifth in the first seven months compared to the same period last year, dominated by Covid. In general, however, it is safe to say that the automotive market is still in a difficult phase – partly due to the chip shortage.