China hits new milestone as NEVs exceed 50% of Oct auto sales

China's new energy vehicle market hits another milestone in October, with monthly sales accounting for more than half of the country's total new car sales for the first time, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on Tuesday.

The latest figures showed that from January to October, China's automobile production and sales reached 27.692 million and 27.687 million units, respectively, both up by more than 10 percent year-on-year.

Among them, NEV production hit 13.02 million units, while sales reached 12.94 million units, marking robust growth of 33.1 percent and 32.7 percent year-on-year, respectively. Notably, in October, NEVs accounted for 51.6 percent of all new car sales nationwide, the first time the monthly penetration rate has exceeded the 50-percent threshold.

In terms of pricing, most NEV passenger car sales were concentrated in the 100,000 yuan ($14,043) to 200,000 yuan range, with cumulative sales during the Jan-Oct period reaching 5.45 million units, up 29.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the association.

The country's NEV exports have also witnessed a surging trend. From January to October, 2.01 million NEVs were exported, representing a sharp 90.4 percent year-on-year increase, the association data showed.