China’s passenger vehicle sales returned to growth in August year-on-year, as deeper discounts and tax breaks for environmentally friendly and electric vehicles boosted consumer sentiment even as economic growth remains weak, reports Reuters. Car sales jumped 2.2% in August from the same month a year ago to 1.94 million units, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Friday, the first year-on-year gain since May.
Sales rose 8.5% from July. For the first eight months, sales were up 1.8% at 13.38 million units.
Buoyed by hefty discounts, Tesla’s share of China’s electric vehicle (EV) market almost doubled in August to 13.2% from 7.5% in July, according to Reuters calculations based on the CPCA data.