"National 6" standards expected to be extended? Epidemic boosts car consumption

Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client February 24 (Fu Yumei) During the epidemic, in order to stabilize and encourage the automobile consumer market, the Ministry of Commerce stated that it would work with relevant departments to study and introduce policies and measures to further stabilize automobile consumption. Recently, the China Automobile Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as the "China Automobile Association") concerning the extension of the implementation of the National Six emission standards has been hotly debated. Although not yet settled, this initiative is generally optimistic about the industry. Industry insiders also pointed out that the auto market affected by the epidemic may welcome the "freezing point", and a series of promotion measures will also effectively help it recover.

Photograph by Xin Jingwei and Fu Yumei

Sales volume may drop 40% in the first two months

The latest data from the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Meeting (hereinafter referred to as the "Passenger Association") shows that domestic passenger vehicle sales in early February fell by 92% year-on-year.

The Federation of Trade Unions predicts that even though sales volume has increased in late February, the overall decline in sales in February is inevitable, or it will fall by 70% year-on-year. At the same time, cumulative sales in the first two months of this year are expected to fall by 40%.

The decline in sales has also exacerbated dealer inventory pressure. According to the data of China Automobile Dealers Association, the comprehensive inventory coefficient of automobile dealers in January was 1.5, up 7.1% year-on-year, and up 12.8% month-on-month. Inventory levels are on the alert line. "Although the inventory coefficient did not exceed the warning line in January, due to the impact of the epidemic, the company delayed construction, and the sales pressure in February was huge, and the inventory coefficient will rise significantly."

The resumption of work was worse than expected, which also put pressure on all aspects. Data show that as of February 21, the overall rate of resumption of work for auto dealers nationwide was only 12.77%. Among them, the sales efficiency was only 7.4%, the after-sales efficiency did not exceed 10%, and most of the automobile transactions have not yet been fully resumed.

Ministry of Commerce encourages policy to come

To cope with the downturn in the auto market, relevant departments have been studying measures to stabilize car consumption. On February 20, Wang Bin, deputy director of the Market Operations Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to study and introduce policies and measures to further stabilize automobile consumption. At the same time, all localities are encouraged to introduce measures to promote new energy vehicle consumption, increase traditional car purchase restrictions, and carry out trade-in-for-new measures to promote automobile consumption in accordance with changing circumstances.

Wang Bin said that the Chinese automobile market has great development space and potential, and automobile consumption demand is still strong. The impact of the epidemic on the automotive industry is periodic. As the epidemic is controlled and production and life are gradually restored, the compensatory consumer demand for automobiles in the later period will increase significantly.

In fact, local governments have begun to follow up and implement relevant measures. In mid-February, Foshan took the lead in becoming the first city to launch a car consumption incentive policy in 2020. According to the "Notice of the Foshan Municipal People's Government Office on Printing and Distributing Certain Measures to Promote the Consumption and Upgrade of the Automotive Market in Foshan (Trial)" issued by the Foshan Municipal People's Government, it is proposed to encourage the consumption of National Sixth Standard Emission Vehicles and to subsidize 2000-5000 yuan per vehicle Wait. The policy will be formally implemented from March 1.

The specific contents include: Foshan license plate owners purchase new cars based on old car sales invoices or auto scrap cancellation certificates, and each subsidy is 3,000 yuan; the same consumer purchases 5 or more large, medium and heavy passenger and trucks at one time. (The unit price of the vehicle is not less than 500,000 yuan), 5,000 yuan subsidy for each car; consumers purchase 2,000 yuan for new cars. In addition, the document also promotes consumption from the perspective of auto finance, and proposes that Foshan will promote infrastructure construction such as parking lots and improve consumer confidence in car purchases.

Subsequently, after the meeting of the Ministry of Commerce on the 20th, the Guangdong Provincial Government issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing Certain Policies and Measures to Further Stabilize and Promote Employment in Guangdong Province" on February 21, stating that the cities with conditions should be promoted to introduce old car scrap updates. The subsidy policy encourages Guangzhou and Shenzhen to further relax car number and bidding quotas.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Federation of Vehicle Industry Associations, said that subsidies and relaxation of purchase restrictions are direct encouragement policies. In addition, the leading role of first-tier cities such as Guangshen also provides references for other cities and will bring positive effects to the auto market during the epidemic period. influences.

"National Six" standard is expected to be postponed

The industry is also making suggestions for promoting automobile consumption. Recently, the China Automobile Association submitted a proposal to postpone the implementation of the National Sixth National Emission Standard. Xu Haidong, assistant secretary-general of the China Automobile Industry Association, responded that relevant state departments are still meeting to study the matter. Whether it is adopted is not yet known. The final result will depend on the official release.

It is reported that starting from July 1 last year, the "National VI" emission standards have been implemented in most cities in China. Auto companies and dealers have completed the inventory clearance of "National V" vehicles before the implementation of the policy. The "National V" models were transferred to cities that did not implement the "National VI" emission standards and continued to be sold. According to the plan, from July 1, 2020, the "National Six" emission standards will be implemented nationwide.

The China Automobile Association pointed out that due to the impact of the epidemic, the resumption of the entire vehicle and parts industry has been delayed, and dealers in various regions have also suspended their operations. Automakers in the first half of this year have been affected by their plans for the entire vehicle, production, sales, and launch of new models. influences. Therefore, the target originally scheduled for July 1 this year is difficult to complete on time, and car companies will face huge pressures and losses that cannot be digested by the entire vehicle and related parts inventory. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic on vehicle sales, it is difficult for some enterprises to complete the "National Five" inventory in time. Therefore, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers proposes to implement an appropriate transition period for "National Six".

Automotive industry analyst Zhang Xiang said to the client of Zhongxin Jingwei: "Many dealers planned to sell the" National Five "cars in the next few months. Now there is no way to operate normally, and the inventory of vehicles can only be backlogged. It will be a great loss. "

Zhang Xiang still said that the implementation of the "National Six" standard was formulated for environmental protection standards. At present, the public driving frequency has been reduced a lot. In addition, the "National Five" inventory clearance work is mainly concentrated in the third and fourth tier cities and below, these cities are not as big as the first-tier cities. Therefore, proper postponement in special circumstances will not have a great impact on environmental protection, but will greatly help dealers overcome difficulties.

Zhang Xiang also suggested: "For 4S stores and dealers, it is important to boost the auto market, and it is also important to protect their existing financial support. It is recommended to promote interest-free loans as one of the incentive measures." Jingwei APP)

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