HONG KONG — China's passenger car exports jumped 82.4% year-on-year in March to around 748,000 vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The figure also represented a sharp increase from the 586,000 passenger cars exported in February.

Exports of new energy passenger vehicles — a category that includes battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models — surged more than 140% in March from a year earlier to 363,000 units, the association's data showed. That total was up 31% from about 276,000 units in February.

The export gains came as domestic passenger car sales moved in the opposite direction. Sales within China fell 19.2% year-on-year in March to nearly 1.7 million units, according to the association. March marked the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year declines for domestic passenger car sales.

"For the overall industry, the overseas market's sales volume growth is more than enough to offset domestic decline on a full-year basis," said Paul Gong, head of China autos research at UBS investment bank. Gong also predicted: "Overseas passenger car sales by units for Chinese automakers might grow by 20% or more this year compared with last year."

BYD and Geely Auto have been increasing their efforts to boost sales abroad and have been expanding production facilities outside China. Chinese car brands have made inroads in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

Chris Liu, a Shanghai-based senior analyst at advisory group Omdia, said geopolitical developments could further shape demand for Chinese electric vehicles in some markets. "The impact of the Iran conflict hasn't fully shown up in March data yet, but it can act as a trigger," Liu said. He added: "In many markets that are structurally well suited for EVs, adoption has been slow simply because consumers lacked urgency. A sharp rise in fuel prices changes that."