Retail sales of China's new energy passenger cars grew by 132 percent year on year in January, industry data showed on Monday. 

With 347,000 new energy passenger cars sold, the volume dropped 27 percent from December, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed. 

The U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla sold 59,845 China-made vehicles in January, while Chinese automaker BYD sold 93,101 EV cars in the same month.

CPCA noted that new energy vehicle companies are facing cost pressures as subsidies have declined, while there has been a sharp rise in the price of raw materials like lithium. 

Total retail sales of passenger cars reached 2.09 million units in January, down 4.4 percent year on year, CPCA data showed.