Chinese auto sales surged 10% year-on-year in October in fastest growth since May, exports up 50%

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese industry association has reported that sales of passenger cars rose 10.2% in October over a year earlier as makers ramped up promotions and customers opted for electric and hybrid vehicles. The China Passenger Car Association said sales of electric and hybrid vehicles climbed 37.5% from a year earlier, accounting for 767,000 of the 2.03 million vehicles sold in October. Exports of passenger cars jumped nearly 50% to 391,000 units. The improvement partly reflects slow growth a year earlier, when China was grappling with factory shutdowns and other disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. So far this year, auto sales in China have climbed 3.2% to just under 17.3 million units.