Since the beginning of the year, consumers have been in a wait-and-see mood, and the passenger car market has not been able to regain momentum in sales, the CPCA said.

China's passenger new energy vehicle (NEV) sales slumped in April, as the overall auto market performance continued to be sluggish.

Wholesale sales of passenger NEVs in April were estimated at 800,000 units, up 33 percent year-on-year but 2 percent lower than in March, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said in a report today.

In March, manufacturers with more than 10,000 wholesale sales of passenger NEVs contributed 85 percent of all wholesale NEV sales, CPCA said.

These carmakers have an estimated sales volume of 680,000 units in April, and based on last month's structure, China's April passenger NEV wholesale sales will be at 800,000 units, the CPCA said.

In China, NEVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and fuel cell vehicles. Their exact numbers are expected to be announced later this month.

Since the beginning of the year, China's auto market has seen a wave of price cuts on new products and a strong wait-and-see sentiment among consumers, which has led to a lack of sales recovery in the passenger car market, the CPCA said.

With the opening of the Beijing auto show in late April, consumer interest in the auto market has heated up, the CPCA noted.

In addition, the national-level auto trade-in policy was launched in late April, which is expected to stimulate the accelerated release of demand for car purchases, and the overall car market is expected to be generally favorable in May, CPCA said.

Among major carmakers, BYD, Tesla China, and Changan were the top three wholesale sellers in April, with 312,048, 62,167, and 51,682, respectively, according to the CPCA.

China EV insurance registrations for week ending May 5: Nio 3,600, Tesla 11,000, BYD 52,600, Xiaomi 1,300