China's car exports accelerate despite disruption from Mideast crisis

BEIJING, April 9 (Reuters) - Car ‌exports, an increasingly ​important ​source of growth for China's hyper-competitive auto sector, picked up pace in March despite shipment disruptions from the crisis ‌in the Middle East, one of the industry's key overseas ⁠markets.

Exports grew 73.7% from a year earlier to nearly 700,000 vehicles last month, ‌faster than the 54.1% in ‌the first two months, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Thursday.

"Car exports have entered a stage of super high ​growth, beating our expectations," said Cui Dongshu, the association's secretary-general.

Domestic sales dropped 15.2% from a year earlier to 1.67 million vehicles last ⁠month, a sixth straight month of decline, as rising fuel prices dampened demand for conventionally ​fuelled models while electric vehicle sales continued to feel the impact of reduced incentives amid a sputtering economic recovery.

Combustion ​engine car sales were down 15.7%, ‌accelerating from a 13.4% decline in the January-February period, although China has capped domestic fuel price hikes to ⁠soften the impact of surging oil prices from the Mideast conflict.

Dealers remain under pressure from bloated inventories, with an index tracking unsold vehicles ticking up last ⁠month as consumers showed little interest in buying new EVs on reduced incentives, ​including the end of a purchase tax exemption.

Facing cut-throat competition in the home market where sales of EVs and PHEVs slipped 14.4% year on year, EV giant ‌BYD posted a seventh consecutive monthly sales drop in March, despite continued strong growth in overseas markets ‌such as Europe where fuel price hikes drove EV demand.

BYD executives said ⁠they were optimistic the company ‌would sell more than ​1.5 million vehicles overseas this year.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Ju-min Park; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and ‌Kate Mayberry)

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