Wholesale shipments of new vehicles in China topped 2.45 million in March, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Tuesday, representing a 9.7 percent jump from last year, when Chengdu and Changchun, two major auto production centers, were locked down amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases.
Last month, shipments of new cars and light trucks such as sedans, crossovers, SUVs, utility vehicles and minibuses rose 8.2 percent to nearly 2.02 million.
Shipments of new commercial vehicles, such as buses and trucks, rose 34 percent to 434,000.
In the first quarter, industry-wide new vehicle shipments fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier to below 6.1 million, dragged down by weak sales in the first two months.
Sales of light vehicles fell 7.3 percent to 5.14 million, while demand for commercial vehicles fell 2.9 percent to 938,000 in the latest quarter.
