China’s 2021 Electric Car Sales More Than Double to Record 2.9 Million

(Nikkei Asia) — Electric vehicle sales in China jumped 160% to a record 2.9 million units last year, industry figures released Wednesday show, underpinning the first rise in overall auto sales here in four years.

New-auto sales rose 3.8% to 26.3 million vehicles in 2021, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Sales of plug-in hybrids more than doubled to 600,000 units. Strength in such “new-energy” vehicles more than offset a 5% slump in other automobiles, including conventional gasoline-fueled models, amid a semiconductor shortage.