China's auto market ends "three consecutive drops" New energy vehicles and independent brands have become the highlights of 2021

Reporter Guo Shaodan reported from Beijing

After three consecutive years of decline, China's auto market has ushered in positive growth again.

Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "CAAM") on January 12 showed that in 2021, China's automobile production and sales reached 26.082 million and 26.275 million vehicles, respectively, an increase of 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year, ending the downward trend for three consecutive years since 2018. Among them, passenger car production and sales were 21.408 million units and 21.482 million units, up 7.1% and 6.5% year-on-year, also ending the three consecutive years of decline since 2018.

The reporter of China Business Daily noted that the performance of new energy vehicles and independent brands has become a bright spot in the automotive market throughout the year. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in 2021 exceeded 3.5 million units, and the market share increased to 13.4%; the market share of Chinese brand cars has exceeded 44%, close to the best level in history.

Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Automobile Association, predicts that China's auto market will continue to grow in 2022. "With the gradual easing of chip shortages, the supply capacity of automobiles will be further released." With the gradual functioning of the chip market regulation mechanism, and with the joint efforts of the government, OEMs and chip suppliers, the supply shortage is gradually alleviating. At that time, the release of automobile supply capacity will become a positive factor for the growth of the automobile market in 2022. Fu Bingfeng said.

Sales of new energy vehicles ranked first in the world for seven consecutive years

According to the China Automobile Association, from the perspective of annual automobile sales, the automobile market showed rapid growth in the first quarter due to the low base of the same period. The growth rate in the second quarter has declined, the third quarter was most affected by the lack of chip supply, there was a sharp decline, and the fourth quarter recovered significantly, better than expected, ensuring a good development trend of steady growth throughout the year.

"New energy vehicles have become the biggest highlight of the automotive industry, and its market development has shifted from policy-driven to market-driven new development stages, showing a good development situation of double improvement in market scale and development quality, laying a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the '14th Five-Year Plan' automobile industry." Fu Bingfeng said.

According to data from the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 3.545 million units and 3.521 million units, respectively, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, and the market share reached 13.4%, 8 percentage points higher than that of the previous year. Judging from the trend of new energy vehicles, in 2021, the development situation of production and sales has been maintained, with monthly sales of more than 200,000 vehicles in March, more than 300,000 vehicles in August, more than 400,000 vehicles in November, and more than 530,000 vehicles in December, showing a sustained growth momentum.

On January 12, Guo Shougang, deputy director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a press conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the development of the automobile industry in 2021 that the development of the new energy automobile industry can be summarized as "three rapids".

"The scale of production and marketing has grown rapidly." Guo Shougang said that in 2021, the cumulative sales of 3.521 million vehicles, the market penetration rate reached 13.4%, an increase of about 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for 7 consecutive years, creating the fastest growth rate since 2016, of which private consumption accounted for nearly 80%, and the sustainable development ability was further improved.

At the same time, "the quality brand is rapidly improving", Guo Shougang listed the data, the average mileage of pure electric passenger cars increased from 253 kilometers in 2016 to more than 400 kilometers in 2021, consumer quality satisfaction is the same as fuel vehicles, Chinese brand new energy passenger car sales account for 74.3% of the total sales of new energy passenger cars, and more and more models sell more and more monthly.

The third rapid mentioned by Guo Shougang refers to the "rapid growth of product exports".

He pointed out that in 2021, 310,000 new energy vehicles will be exported, an increase of more than 3 times year-on-year, exceeding the total historical cumulative exports. At the same time, the supporting environment for industrial development has also been further optimized, and by the end of 2021, a total of 75,000 charging stations, 2.617 million charging piles, 1,298 replacement power stations, and more than 10,000 power battery recycling service outlets have been set up in 31 provinces and municipalities across the country.

"China's auto market will continue to grow." According to Fu Bingfeng's forecast, China's total automobile sales in 2022 will be 27.5 million vehicles, an increase of 5% year-on-year, of which the sales of new energy vehicles will reach 5 million, an increase of 42% year-on-year, and the market share is expected to exceed 18%.

Fu Bingfeng said that the strong demand for new energy vehicles will further promote the steady growth of automobile consumption. "In the medium and long term, the blessing of intelligent networked vehicle technology and the innovation of business models will greatly promote the popularity of new energy vehicles, especially the implementation of the 'double carbon' goal, and accelerate the progress of transformation, and the planning target of the proportion of new energy vehicles by 2025 is likely to be achieved ahead of schedule, all of which will effectively support the domestic auto market to maintain growth in 2022."

Chinese brand passenger car market share increases to 44.4%

Under the pull effect brought about by the improvement of new energy vehicles and export markets, the market share of Chinese brand passenger cars is close to the best level in history.

According to the China Automobile Association, in 2021, the sales volume of Chinese brand passenger cars reached 9.543 million units, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, and the market share was 44.4%, up 6.0 percentage points.

In terms of car companies, in 2021, the sales of passenger cars of traditional Chinese brands such as SAIC, Great Wall, Changan, Chery, BYD, Dongfeng, FAW, and GAC have achieved double-digit growth rates, while new car-making enterprises have contributed a total of 947,000 units in sales, an increase of 215% year-on-year, of which the sales growth rate of Weilai, Ideal, Xiaopeng, Hezhong and other enterprises is as high as three digits.

Through the development of mainstream Chinese automobile brands in recent years, they have made great breakthroughs in technology and product strength.

Zhu Huarong, rotating president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the technical capabilities of Chinese automobile brands have been fully built, "from the whole vehicle, body, chassis, engine, transmission, including automatic transmission, have fully equipped with independent research and development capabilities."

At the same time, "product innovation continues", in Zhu Huarong's view, Chinese brands have now formed brand characteristics such as beauty, high appearance, high technical configuration, and many new technology applications, which meet the needs of consumer upgrading in the Chinese market.

In terms of product quality, "Chinese car brands have reached or even exceeded the level of some international brands", Zhu Huarong took the failure rate of thousands of cars as an example, saying that most brands in the world have a failure rate of about 8-10 thousand cars, and now some Chinese brands have a thousand car failure rate at an excellent level of 5-7, which has exceeded the average level, especially Chinese brands in terms of service also highlights the advantages of efficiency and speed.

It is worth noting that in the past decade, China's automobile exports have been hovering around 1 million vehicles, and in 2021, driven by factors such as the recovery of the international market and the improvement of the competitiveness of Chinese brands, China's automobile exports have performed well, breaking through 2 million for the first time.

The industry consensus is that under the transformation of the automobile industry, Chinese brands have seized a new round of development opportunities, and the development of new energy and intelligent networked vehicles is leading the world. "In the next step, Chinese brands should seize historical opportunities, especially to seize the opportunity period of development in the next 3 to 5 years, seize the international market, and accelerate the brand upwards." In the next 10 years, it is expected to give birth to a world-class Chinese brand. Zhu Huarong said.

(Editor: Zhang Shuo Proofreader: Peng Yufeng)