China's New Energy Vehicle Sales Soar... Up 220% Until May

Battery Bottleneck Due to Surging Demand for Electric Vehicles
Optimistic Sales Forecast of Over 2 Million New Energy Vehicles Including Electric Cars This Year

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Last month, sales of new energy vehicles, including electric cars, in China reached 217,000 units, according to Xinhua News Agency. This represents a 160% increase compared to the same month last year.

Xinhua cited data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), explaining that cumulative sales of new energy vehicles up to May totaled 950,000 units, a 220% increase compared to the same period last year.

Regarding the increase in new energy vehicle sales, Xinhua analyzed that sales rose due to a surge in consumer demand along with various government stimulus measures.

The Chinese government announced last November that it plans to expand the share of new energy vehicle sales to 20% of total new car sales by 2025 and to replace all public transportation vehicles with new energy vehicles by 2035. Considering that China’s annual new car sales were 26 million units (based on 2019 data), it is estimated that sales of electric and other new energy vehicles will reach 5 million units by 2025.

Chinese economic media Caixin reported concerns about battery supply bottlenecks as sales of electric and other new energy vehicles surge.

Yang Hongxin, president of battery company Fengqiao Energy, stated that since the fourth quarter of last year, a shortage of vehicle batteries has begun to appear in China, and currently, supply capacity is only about 60 to 80% of demand.

This year, sales of electric and other new energy vehicles in China are expected to exceed 2 million units. Last year, total sales of new energy vehicles in China were 1,109,000 units.

Su Jianhua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, recently stated at the Korea-China Future Vehicle Cooperation Forum titled "Green New Deal and Future Vehicles" that sales of electric and other new energy vehicles in China this year will exceed 2 million units, describing the figure as very optimistic.

Meanwhile, total automobile sales in China from January to May reached 10.88 million units, a 36.6% increase compared to the same period last year. Of these, passenger cars accounted for 8.44 million units, up 38.1% from the same period last year.