(Yicai Global) March 2 -- BYD’s sales of new energy vehicles jumped 119 percent last month from a year earlier amid an anticipated broader rebound in China’s auto market, the world’s largest.

BYD sold 193,655 NEVs in February, according to figures the Shenzhen-based automaker released yesterday. That placed it first for NEV sales in China for the 21st month in a row.

Retail sales of passenger vehicles in the country may have reached 1.35 million units in February, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier and 4.3 percent on January, as the lunar new year holiday finished and new local purchase subsidies and NEV price changes are taking effect, the China Passenger Car Association said on Feb. 22.

The policy that exempts NEV buyers from paying vehicle purchase tax will remain intact this year, Xu Hongcai, China’s deputy minister for finance, said yesterday. The tax equals 10 percent of a car's retail price.

NEV sales fell 6.3 percent to 408,000 in January from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said last month.

To further stimulate the recovery in demand, automakers may later offer discounts, financing plans, and subsidize replacement vehicles among other measures, Tianfeng Securities said in a recent research note.

GAC Aion, the electric vehicle unit of GAC Group, sold 30,086 cars last month, an increase of 253 percent from the same period of 2022. Tesla has not yet announced its sales figures for February.

All Chinese NEV startups except Xpeng Motors reported higher deliveries. Li Auto handed over 16,620 units last month, up 98 percent from a year earlier. Nio's shipments nearly doubled to 12,157, with this month’s tally likely to stay around 12,000. Hozon Auto delivered over 10,000 NEVs, a gain of 42 percent. Xpeng's shipments fell 3.3 percent to 6,010.

Seres Group saw its NEV sales more than double to 6,577 units in February from a year earlier. Sales of Aito, a marque the carmaker co-founded with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, exceeded 3,500, a surge of 230 percent. Seres recently signed a deal with Huawei Device to deepen cooperation, setting a goal to produce and sell 1 million NEVs by 2026.

Zeekr Intelligent Technology, the EV unit of Chinese car giant Geely Holding Group, delivered 5,455 cars in February, an 87 percent increase over the same period a year ago.

Changan Automobile's NEV brand Deepal sold 4,103 SL03s last month, a 33 percent drop on January.

Editor: Futura Costaglione