Chinese marques lead NEV fast lane

Boom in electric vehicle sales boosts China's entire automobile industry

New energy vehicles or NEVs are hitting the fast lane in China, and the sector is expected to help the country's carmakers to overtake international rivals, analysts said.

In June, sales of electric vehicles or EVs and plug-in hybrids reached a record 596,000 units, up 132 percent year-on-year, pushing the overall first-half deliveries to over 2.6 million units and full-year sales estimates to 5.5 million units, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The robust growth will help China's overall vehicle sector to see positive growth this year, said Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the CAAM.