RCCN WeChat QrCode
Mobile WebSiteAccording to the latest sales data released by the Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Committee of the Automobile Market Research Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association (referred to as "Passenger Federation"), in the first half of the year, the cumulative sales of domestic cars were 4.829 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.3%, and the same period in 2019. Compared with 4.948 million vehicles, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points; wholesale car sales of 4.668 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%, basically the same as sales in the first half of 2010, and a decrease of 25% from the 2014 high of 6.211 million vehicles. Manufacturers' wholesale volume was the lowest in the first half of 2019.
"After the epidemic has improved, the world's auto supply and demand gaps are temporarily under greater pressure, and the lack of international chip supply and uncertainty has caused some Chinese auto companies to reduce production and lose more. Some auto companies have seen a sharp drop in wholesale sales in recent months, resulting in joint venture vehicles. Factors such as imbalanced entry and exit of enterprise dealers, unbalanced order requirements and existing inventory are transmitted to retail terminals, leading to weak retail sales." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, analyzed.
Sales of foreign brands have shrunk, independent brands hit new highs
In line with the pace of the passenger car market, the growth rate of car retail sales in the first half of the year was high and then low, and the growth momentum slowed down from May to June.
The growth of the structure of various levels is uneven. The two major forces driving the growth of the car market are mainly the A00 hatchback new energy and the traditional A and B class sedan.
According to statistics, in the first half of the year, the cumulative sales of A00-class electric vehicles represented by SAIC-GM-Wuling Hongguang MINI EV were 339,800, a sharp increase of 175.4% compared with the same period in 2019. In the first half of the year, the market share of A00-class electric vehicles reached 5.9%, contributing 4.8 percentage points to the increase in the share of local cars.
In the A0-class car market, the average transaction price has also increased month by month, from 72,300 yuan in January 2021 to 79,500 yuan in June. In June, the A0-class car market price index was 7.03, and the average market transaction price was 79,500 yuan, an increase of 600 yuan from the previous month and an increase of 0.7% from the previous month. In June, the sales of the high-end model Fit and POLO in the A0-class sedan market increased by 4% and 1.1% year-on-year, which led to an increase in the overall average transaction price of this segment.
Foreign-funded and joint venture brands that dominate the domestic car market all saw their sales shrink in the first half of the year.
According to statistics, the cumulative sales of foreign-branded cars from January to June were 3,351,500 units, a decrease of 14.8% compared with the same period in 2019. Although sales still accounted for 72.0% of total sedan sales, compared with the same period in 2019, the market share in the first half of the year fell sharply by 7.8 percentage points.
From the perspective of sales changes, compared with before the epidemic, the German and Japanese cars with sales of more than one million in the first half of the year experienced a sharp decline. Statistics show that the cumulative sales of German and Japanese cars from January to June were 1,406,700 and 1,243,900 respectively, a decrease of 17.0% and a decrease of 6.8% compared with the same period in 2019. At the same time, the sales of American, Korean, and French cars in the first half of the year also fell by more than double digits compared with before the epidemic.
In the first half of the year, the sales and share of domestically-made cars hit the highest records in the past five years.
Sales rankings of domestically-made autonomous cars from January to June 2021
Statistics show that from January to June, the cumulative sales of domestically-made self-owned cars was 1,303,200, an increase of 30.9% compared with 1,001 million in the same period in 2019, which exceeded the peak period (1,185,200 sales in the first half of 2018) of 117,900; domestically produced in the first half of the year The share of autonomous cars reached 28.0%, a 7.8% increase compared with the same period in 2019, and an increase of 7.2% compared with the first half of 2018.From January to June 2021, there are 4 models of domestically-made autonomous cars with an average monthly sales of more than 10,000 units, namely Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, Changan Yidong, Geely Emgrand, and Geely Xingrui. Among them, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV sold 182,767 units in the first half of the year, and the position of the champion is solid, leading the second place Changan Yidong with 83,692 units.
It is worth noting that many self-owned brands and new car-making forces that are just starting out still attach great importance to the car market, and many of them have developed in a higher-end direction early. For example, Geely Xingrui, BYD Han, Xiaopeng P7, Weilai ET7 and other models have gradually been recognized by consumers.
The increase of new and old models continues to improve the characteristics of both high and low ends
Affected by the shortage of chips, the pattern of the car market continues to be positive. The luxury camp is dominated by the growth of BMW and Tesla, and both traditional brands and new forces in the economy camp have contributed.
From the characteristics of the source of market growth, both new and old models have increased. In the first half of the year, new cars contributed over 40% to the growth of the sedan market, and old cars recovered strongly under a low base. In the drive of strong models, new models have made greater contributions, while old models are still dominated by traditional star models.
It is worth mentioning that in the first half of the year, the new energy vehicle (NEV) market showed explosive growth and increased penetration. The NEV sedan market contributed 160,000 increments in the first half of the year. Even in May to June when the total sedan market was negative growth, it still contributed a net increment of more than 20,000. The NEV market has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven transformation. The proportion of sales in cities with restricted purchases has declined, and the share of private cars has increased year by year.
In terms of the price of the car market, the sales volume of high-priced cars with more than 200,000 yuan has increased year by year in the past three years. The market for cars with more than 200,000 yuan is still dominated by joint venture brand models, but the proportion of self-owned brands will increase significantly in 2021. This year the car market achieved the only positive increase in transaction prices in the past three years. The strong price recovery of European and American models and the price recovery brought about by the shortage of German resources have supported the continued increase in the price of the car market this year.
In the sedan market, FAW-Volkswagen continues to maintain its position as a leading sedan company. Among the top ten models sold in the first half of the year, the Bora and Sagitar produced by FAW-Volkswagen had sales of 157,444 and 130,814 respectively, ranking sixth and seventh.
Highlight models of other auto companies have outstanding performance, such as GAC Toyota Camry's lean management to boost the brand, Dongfeng Group's Sylphy's product sequence portfolio ensures A-class leadership, GAC Honda Fit series iterative innovation maintains vitality, and Changan Automobile's precise positioning to promote PLUS Process.
"Looking forward to the second half of the year, the car market will decline slightly on the basis of a high base. The strong momentum of new energy in the car market will continue in the second half of the year. The volume of newly launched traditional cars will gradually increase, which may partly drive the increase in the proportion of ICE cars. After the chip supply resumes, the goals of various manufacturers in the car field will be greatly improved, especially the competition of mainstream joint venture brands will be more intense." Cui Dongshu predicts.
