China NEV retail sales drop 13% in first 18 days of October, penetration rebounds to 65.9%

• China's passenger NEV retail sales totaled 520,000 units from October 1 to 18, down 13% year-on-year and 2% from the same period last month.
• Overall passenger car retail sales fell 26% year-on-year, with the decline in average daily sales widening to 29% in the third week of October.

China's retail sales of passenger new energy vehicles (NEVs) totaled 520,000 units from October 1 to 18, down 13% year-on-year and 2% from the same period last month, according to data released Wednesday by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Year-to-date NEV retail sales came in at 8.278 million units, down 13% year-on-year.

The year-on-year decline for the first 18 days was unchanged from the first 11 days of October. NEV retail sales fell 16.7% in September, marking a ninth consecutive month of year-on-year declines. Unless sales return to growth for the full month of October, the downturn will extend to a tenth month.

NEVs accounted for 65.9% of passenger car retail sales from October 1 to 18, up from 61.2% in the first 11 days but below September's record 67.0%.

Automakers' NEV wholesale sales totaled 655,000 units from October 1 to 18, up 5% year-on-year and 1% from the same period last month.

Year-to-date NEV wholesale sales reached 12.1 million units, up 9% year-on-year. NEVs accounted for 76.8% of passenger car wholesale sales in the first 18 days of October, slightly below 78.1% in the first 11 days.

China's total passenger car retail sales stood at 789,000 units from October 1 to 18, down 26% year-on-year but up 2% from the same period last month. Year-to-date retail sales totaled 14.12 million units, down 22% year-on-year.

In the first week of October, from October 1 to 7, retail sales averaged 32,651 units a day, down 25% year-on-year and 10% from the same period in September.

In the second week, from October 8 to 11, daily retail sales averaged 57,589 units, down 22% year-on-year but up 32% from the same period in September.

In the third week, from October 12 to 18, daily retail sales averaged 47,109 units, down 29% year-on-year and 5% from the same period in September. The year-on-year decline was the steepest of any week so far this month.

Chinese passenger car manufacturers' wholesale sales totaled 853,000 units from October 1 to 18, down 20% year-on-year and 3% from the same period last month. Year-to-date wholesale sales reached 20.59 million units, down 6% year-on-year.

From October 1 to 7, daily wholesale sales averaged 20,582 units, down 32% year-on-year and 44% from the same period last month.

From October 8 to 11, daily wholesale sales averaged 60,246 units, down 7% year-on-year but up 23% from the same period last month.

From October 12 to 18, daily wholesale sales averaged 66,799 units, down 22% year-on-year but up 11% from