Big milestone: NEV sales lead all segments
China DailyExport-bound NEVs await shipment in Xiamen, Fujian province. Retail sales of NEVs nationwide reached 878,000 units in July, accounting for 51.1 percent of the total market, according to data released by the China Automobile Dealers Association. The market penetration rate exceeding 50 percent marked a solid step toward accomplishing the government's target of making electric vehicles the mainstream of new automobile sales by 2035. "Demand-driven market rather than policy-driven market has become the main factor boosting the sales of domestic NEVs," said Liu Jia, an electronics and automotive analyst of Nomura Orient International Securities. "Although electric vehicles in overseas markets have performed not as expected this year, foreign automakers, such as Japanese and European ones, still increased their NEV investment in expectation of big future changes," Liu said.