Deliveries of new light vehicles in China will advance 9.5 percent to 22.1 million in 2021 after contracting for three straight years, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicted.
The trade group made the forecast after releasing industry sales tallies for June at a virtual news briefing on June 8.
New light-vehicle sales across China declined for the second consecutive month in June, slipping 11 percent to below 1.57 million, because of an acute semiconductor chip shortage that has upended output and inventory.
The group previously forecast volume would rise 6.5 percent this year as the market continues to rebound from the pandemic and benefits from government stimulus.
Behind a strong rebound in the first quarter, first-half light-vehicle deliveries industrywide jumped 27 percent to top 10 million.
CAAM expects sales of new vehicles including trucks and buses to rise 6.7 percent to 27 million this year, with demand for electrified vehicles — full electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids – surging 76 percent to 2.4 million.
In the first half, while overall sales of new vehicles jumped 24 percent to 12.89 million, electrified vehicle sales tripled to exceed 1.2 million. The tally includes roughly 1 million EVs and 200,000 plug-in hybrids.