China's auto sales down 12.4% in June - industry association

BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) - Auto sales in China, the world's biggest car market, fell 12.4% in June from the corresponding month a year earlier, industry data showed on Friday.

Overall sales stood at 2.02 million vehicles in June, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

The country sold 12.89 million vehicles between January and June, up 25.6% from year-ago levels.

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) including battery-powered electric vehicles, plug-in petrol-electric hybrids, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles maintained their strong momentum, jumping 139.3%, with 256,000 units sold last month.

NEV makers such as Nio Inc, Xpeng Inc, and BYD are expanding manufacturing capacity in China, encouraged by the government's promotion of greener vehicles to cut pollution.

Tesla Inc sold 33,155 China-manufactured electric cars in June.