China's passenger car sales in June fell 6.5 percent year on year to 1.68 million units, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Wednesday.

Retail sales were in line with expectations and signaled a continuing recovery in the passenger car market, the association said during an online briefing.

Luxury automakers' sales outpaced the overall market, CPCA Secretary-General Cui Dongshu said.

Sales of new energy vehicles (NEV), which include battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hit 85,600.

Pure battery electric vehicle sector sold 67,000 units in June with U.S. maker Tesla Inc accounting for 23 percent of the market, the CPCA said.

Cui said the association expects NEV sales in the second half this year to be significantly higher than in the same period last year.

Passenger car sales rose to 1.61 million units in May, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier.