Luxury automakers outpace China’s May passenger car sales recovery

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s premium and luxury passenger car retail sales jumped 28% from a year earlier, the best performing sector as the industry, the China Passenger Car Association said, as the country gradually recovers from the coronavirus.

Overall passenger car sales in May rose 1.9% from a year earlier to 1.61 million, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Monday.

The association said during an online briefing that the retail sales growth beat expections and signalled a recovery in the passenger car market. However, it forecasts sales in June will fall, citing last year’s strong figure.

Tesla Inc sold 11,065 Shanghai-made Model 3 electric sedans in May, up 205% compared to April.

An executive at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by India’s Tata Motors , said the firm expects sales of China’s luxury car segment this year to be level with last year or see slight growth.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh, editing by Louise Heavens)