Vehicle shipments jump 14% in February

Wholesale shipments of new vehicles expanded 14 percent to 1.98 million last month after slumping 35 percent in January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Friday. February shipments of light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses rose 11 percent to 1.65 million. During the month, shipments of all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids rallied 44 percent and 98 percent to 376,000 and 149,000, respectively. Overall, electrified vehicle shipments advanced 21 percent to approach 933,000 so far this year through February. Shipments of EVs jumped 8.4 percent to around 662,000 in January and February while sales of plug-in hybrids surged 69 percent to approximately 270,000.