Chinese automobile manufacturers saw sales surge in March amid an intensifying global chips shortage.
BYD (1211) said vehicle sales rose 33 percent year-on-year to 40,817 units with new-energy vehicle sales surged 97.6 percent to 24,218 in March. Production grew 26.4 percent to 39,007 units.
First quarter sales jumped 70 percent, production increased by 75.7 percent and new-energy vehicle sales surged 147 percent.
Geely Automobile (0175) meanwhile said its sales grew 37 percent last month while first-quarter sales grew 62 percent to 334,000 units, reaching 22 percent of its annual sales target.
And SAIC Motor may cut production by 200,000 units due to chips shortage, Bloomberg reported. The cut is equal to 3.2 percent of its 2021 sales target
The gap between ordering a chip and taking delivery increased to 16 weeks in March, indicating shortages of these components are intensifying, according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group.
In other news, Meanwhile, Xiaomi's (1810) first car model will be priced between 100,000 yuan (HK$120,000) and 300,000 yuan and will be a sedan or sports utility vehicle, reports indicate.
