(Yicai) Dec. 11 -- China’s wholesale volume of passenger cars is expected to exceed 25 million units this year, achieving a new record high, according to an industry association.

Chinese carmakers sold 2.5 million passenger cars to retailers last month, an increase of over 25 percent from the same period last year, thanks to surging new energy vehicle sales and exports, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Dec. 8.

China’s BYD, Chery Automobile, and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group were the three domestic automakers with the most wholesales of passenger cars in November, with 301,000 units, 203,000 units, and 200,000 units, respectively.

Although car sales are not expected to increase significantly this month, the automobile market will exceed expectations this year, with passenger and commercial vehicle sales expected to surpass the threshold of 30 million units, the CPCA predicted.

Wholesales of NEVs in China jumped 32 percent to 962,000 units in November from a year earlier, achieving a penetration rate of almost 38 percent, up 1.7 percentage point from a year ago, data from the CPCA also showed. The figure is expected to soar 35 percent to 7.8 million units this year from the previous one.

China’s car exports surged 42 percent to 524,000 units last month from a year earlier, according to data from customs authorities. Exports of passenger cars jumped 50 percent to 378,000 units in the period, with NEV exports reaching 89,000 units, up 8 percent and accounting for 17 percent of the total, data from the CPCA showed.

Vehicle exports rose 60 percent to 4.8 million units in the first 11 months of the year from the same period last year, according to customs' data.

2024 will be a great year for automobile sales, as both fuel-powered and electric car sales will likely increase from this year, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA. Wholesales of NEVs are expected to jump 22 percent to 11 million units next year from this year, while retail sales of passenger vehicles will probably inch up 3 percent to 22.2 million units in the period, Cui predicted.

Retail sales of NEVs amounted to 841,000 in November, up 40 percent from a year earlier and achieving a penetration rate of 40.4 percent, exceeding the threshold of 40 percent for the first time. Over 62 percent of the NEVs sold last month were of Chinese brands, while only 6.6 percent were of major joint ventures. Nearly one-third of the NEVs sold in November were luxury cars.

Editor: Futura Costaglione