Sales in China's auto market overtook expectations of a 3 percent target by growing 4.7 percent to 24.6 million units last year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.
Chinese brands also recouped much of their lost ground in the passenger car market and what also electrified the industry was that sales of new-energy cars charged ahead.
The sales growth marked a modest achievement as the goal was a downward adjustment from the previous 7 percent target made by the association due to China's sharp market downturn in the middle of last year. The 4.7 percent annual increase was 2.2 percentage points down from that of 2014.
UBS Securities cited factors such as destocking, a dramatic sales slowdown in second-tier cities and the negative impact from the volatile A-share market for the slower growth.
UBS expects the market to further recover this year, with passenger car sales rising 8 percent from last year's 7.3 percent growth as purchase tax reduction may continue to work its magic as stimulus measures did in the fourth quarter.
The accumulative growth rate of China's auto market had fallen for eight months to negative territory before it bottomed out in September, the start of a traditional high season for China's car purchases. Also the 5 percent purchase tax cut for energy-saving vehicles of 1.6-liter engine displacement or less since October kept the sales momentum.
Vehicles eligible for the preferential tax policy accounted for around 70 percent of China's passenger car sales last year, powering the segment to pass the milestone of selling 20 million units annually for the first time.
Meanwhile, Chinese brands recaptured much of the ground they lost in the passenger car market, with sales up 15.3 percent annually and lifting their market share by 2.9 percentage points to 41.3 percent.
The rally was largely powered by the 82.8 percent surge in sales of sport-utility vehicles, the market's rare bright spot. The overall SUV sales soared 52.4 percent from last year despite the general cooling of China's car market.
Another bright spot was the new-energy car segment whose sales jumped 3.4 times to 331,092 units.
