In line with the whole automobile industry, Chinese new energy vehicles (NEV) posted strong growth in November, setting new historical records in both production and sales, according to data from the China Automotive Manufacturers Association (CAAM).

Including commercial vehicles, monthly production and sales of NEVs stood at 457,000 units and 450,000 units respectively, surging by 127.8% and 121.1% year-on-year. This brought year-to-date volumes to 3.02 million units and 2.99m units, which was up 167.4% and 166.8% y-o-y, separately, Kallanish reports.

Passenger car NEVs grew faster than commercial vehicles in the given month, since the latter was affected by the switching and uncertainties of policies such as exhaust emissions. The contribution of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to the total output of 434,000 units in November were stablised at 80% and 20%, respectively.

As for sales of passenger car NEVs, the figure surged 125.9% y-o-y to 427,000 units in the reporting month. Of that, BEV sales soared 116.1% to 339,000 units and PHEV sales rose 174% to 88,000 units.

In addition, the domestic penetration rate of NEVs rose to 17.8% in November and 12.7% over January-November. Though exports of all NEVs still posted strong y-o-y increase of 189.9% in November, passenger car NEVs dropped 40.9% m-o-m to 35,000 units.

CAAM adds that the current Chinese NEV market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven.