Production and sales in April increased year-on-year, and new energy vehicles continued to perform well

Beijing, May 5 (Reporter Liu Jin) As the macroeconomy continues to recover, market demand is gradually picking up, and automobile consumer demand is expected to be further released. According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in April, China's automobile production and sales reached 14.4 million and 213.3 million units, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 215.9% and 76.8%. Among them, the production and sales of new energy vehicles and automobile exports continued to be good.

For the sharp year-on-year increase in production and sales in April, Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, believes that this is due to the basic stagnation of production and supply caused by the new crown epidemic in April last year, and the base in the same period is relatively low. In the first four months, automobile production and sales reached 4.4 million units and 4.835 million units, up 5.823% y/y, and 5.8% y/y, respectively.

However, it should also be noted that the impact of irrational promotions in the car market in March has not been completely eliminated, and production and sales in April fell by 3.4% and 17.5% respectively month-on-month. "At present, the demand momentum of the domestic automobile market is still weak, and the effective demand has not been fully released." Chen Shihua said that at present, the number of consumers entering the store is growing rapidly, but the transaction rate is low, and there is a wait-and-see attitude. In addition, the recovery of the commercial vehicle industry was slower than expected, and production and sales in April decreased compared with March, due to many adverse factors.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Vehicle Market Information Association, believes that automobile sales achieved super growth in April, and basically formed a clear upward trend from January to April.

New energy vehicles continued to perform well, and their market share steadily increased. In April, NEV production and sales reached 4,64 units and 63,6 units, respectively, up 1.1 times y/y, with a market share of 29.5%. From January to April, NEV production and sales reached 1.4 million units and 229.1 million units, respectively, up 222.2% y/y, and its market share reached 42%. "With the continuous launch of new models, the market performance of new energy vehicles in the second half of the year is expected to exceed that of the first half." Chen Shihua said.

Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, analyzed that the association predicted at the beginning of the year that the annual production and sales of new energy vehicles will be 900 million, an increase of 200 million to 300 million units over last year, which will definitely put certain pressure on fuel vehicles, and its market share will gradually be replaced by new energy vehicles.

In the context of the overall recovery of the passenger car market, the market share of Chinese brand passenger cars has also stabilized. In April, Chinese brand passenger cars sold a total of 4,99 units, up 9.81% year-on-year, accounting for 4.55% of total passenger car sales, down 2.1 percentage points from the same period last year.

"If the special situation in April last year is removed, the overall market share of China's own brands is still in the rising stage, and it is expected to maintain this trend in the future." Xu Haidong said. In April last year, the production and sales of joint venture car enterprises were greatly affected by the epidemic lockdown in Shanghai and Jilin, and the monthly proportion of Chinese brand passenger cars was relatively high, and this year it returned to normal track. Cui Dongshu believes that the market share of Chinese brands has increased from 4% in 4 to 2020.37%, which has become a characteristic of the strong rise of Chinese brands.

It is worth mentioning that automobile exports continued to be strong. In April, automakers exported 4,37 units, up 6.3% m/m and 3.1 times y/y. By vehicle type, passenger car exports were 7,31 units, up 6.3% m/m and 7.2 times y/y, while commercial vehicle exports were 2,6 units, up 1.2% m/m and 41.6% y/y. Exports of new energy vehicles reached 10,28 units, up 6.8% month-on-month and 4.<> times year-on-year.

Among the top 10 OEMs, SAIC Motor exported the largest volume of 8,2 units, a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times, accounting for 21.7% of total exports. Compared with the same period of the previous year, BYD's exports increased the most, reaching 1,5 units, a year-on-year increase of 15.5 times.

For the next trend of the automotive industry, Chen Shihua pointed out that the current economic operation of China has shown a recovery and improvement, but the demand is still insufficient, the pressure of enterprise operation is generally large, coupled with the complex and changeable international situation, the task of stable growth of the automobile industry is still heavy, and relevant policies are needed to continue to boost confidence, fully promote the release of automobile consumption potential, and promote the stable operation of the automobile industry.

Liu Jin (Source: Economic Daily)