In 2021, the number of motor vehicles in the country will be 395 million The proportion of women and "elderly" drivers will continue to increase

Economic Observation Network reporter Zhou Ju On January 11, the Ministry of Public Security released the 2021 national motor vehicle and driver data. According to the data, the number of motor vehicles in the country will reach 395 million in 2021, of which 302 million are cars; the number of motor vehicle drivers will reach 481 million, of which 444 million will be car drivers.

Compared with 2020, the number of motor vehicles in the country increased by 23.5 million in 2021, an increase of 6.32% year-on-year; the number of newly licensed drivers was 27.5 million, an increase of 23.25% year-on-year.

From the perspective of driver composition, in terms of gender, male drivers are 319 million, accounting for 66.32%; female drivers are 162 million, accounting for 33.68%. In terms of age, 340 million drivers aged 26 to 50, accounting for 70.71%, and 69.66 million drivers aged 51 to 60, accounting for 14.48%.

It is worth noting that compared with 2020, the proportion of female drivers and drivers aged 51-60 has further increased. Among them, there were 148 million female drivers in 2020, accounting for 32.43%, an increase of 1.25 percentage points by 2021. In 2020, there were 60.86 million drivers aged 51 to 60 years old, accounting for 13.36%, an increase of 1.12 percentage points in 2021.

To some extent, the above-mentioned changes in the proportion reflect the increased potential of the female automobile market and the older automobile market. In fact, according to available data, the proportion of female drivers has continued to grow since 2014, from 23.5% in 2014 to 33.68% in 2021, an increase of 10 percentage points in 6 years. In recent years, a number of car companies have begun to exert efforts in this part of the market. For example, Euler Automobile, a subsidiary of Great Wall Motors, is positioned as a car that understands women better, and the petite and cute cars represented by Hongguang MINIEV and other models with fresh colors also aim at the female market.

The proportion of drivers aged 51-60 has also continued for several years, from 11.4% in 2018 to 14.48% in 2021, an increase of 3 percentage points in 3 years. With the suspension of older scooters in recent years, more older consumers have begun to obtain driver's licenses and choose regular electric vehicles. Because it can undertake the market of old scooters, this part of the market is also considered to have great potential. The previous electric vehicles going to the countryside were also carried out in this context.

Information from car companies shows that it is expected that for the female market and older customers, car companies may launch more products.

In addition, the proportion of new energy vehicles in 2021 will increase. According to the data, the number of new energy vehicles reached 7.84 million, accounting for 2.60% of the total number of vehicles (0.85 percentage points higher than 1.75% in 2020), an increase of 2.92 million units over 2020, an increase of 59.25%. In 2021, 2.95 million new energy vehicles will be newly registered nationwide. The data shows that in the past five years, the number of newly registered new energy vehicles has increased from 650,000 in 2017 to 2.95 million in 2021, showing a rapid growth trend.

According to the latest forecast of the Association of Automobile Associations, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in China are expected to exceed 6 million in 2022, with a market penetration rate of about 22%. Among them, the cumulative sales of new energy passenger cars in China will exceed 5.5 million in 2022, and the market penetration rate will reach about 25%.

In terms of geographical distribution, data from the Ministry of Public Security shows that by the end of 2021, there are 79 cities in the country with more than 1 million cars, an increase of 9 cities over last year; 35 cities with more than 2 million vehicles; 20 cities with more than 3 million vehicles, including more than 5 million in Beijing, Chengdu and Chongqing, more than 4 million in Suzhou, Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Xi'an, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Foshan, Shijiazhuang, Linyi, Jinan, Xi'an more than 4 million, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Foshan, Shijiazhuang, Linyi, Jinan, Xi'an Changsha and other 13 cities more than 3 million vehicles.

In addition, used car trading is active in 2021. According to the data, in 2021, the national public security traffic management department handled a total of 30.48 million motor vehicle transfer registrations. Among them, there were 29.23 million automobile transfer registration businesses, accounting for 95.90%. In the past five years, the ratio of second-hand car transfer registration to the number of new car registrations has risen from 0.67 to 1.11, surpassing the number of new car registrations. The data shows that the second-hand car trading market is becoming increasingly active with the help of policies such as the cancellation of the "relocation restriction" of used cars and the registration of used car off-site transactions.