On January 12, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a press conference to introduce the development of the automobile industry in 2021. In 2021, in the face of adverse factors such as chip shortage and continuous high raw material prices, the automotive industry has faced difficulties and taken the initiative to show a steady and increasing development trend in automobile production and sales throughout the year, showing strong development resilience and development momentum.
Ending three consecutive years of decline, automobile production and sales have increased steadily
According to Wang Weiming, director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2021, China's automobile production and sales were 26.082 million vehicles and 26.275 million vehicles, an increase of 3.4% and 3.8% respectively year-on-year, ending the downward trend for three consecutive years, and contributing an important force to the sustained recovery and development of China's industrial economy and stable macroeconomic growth.
The passenger car market has exceeded 20 million units for 7 consecutive years,
The trend of consumption upgrading is obvious
In 2021, China's passenger car production and sales reached 21.408 million units and 21.482 million units, respectively, an increase of 7.1% and 6.5% year-on-year, an increase of 3.7 and 2.7 percentage points higher than the industry growth rate. Promoted by the strong domestic consumer market, China's passenger car market has exceeded 20 million units for seven consecutive years.
According to Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from the perspective of subdivided models, the production and sales of cars reached 9.908 million units and 9.934 million units, respectively, an increase of 7.8% and 7.1% year-on-year; Production and sales of SUVs totaled 10.03 million units and 10.101 million units, up 6.7% and 6.8% year-on-year, respectively. MPV production and sales totaled 1.073 million units, up 6.1% and 0.1% year-on-year, respectively, while production and sales of crossover passenger cars totaled 397,000 units and 391,000 units, up 0.6% and 0.8% y/y, respectively.
With the gradual improvement of residents' income level, China's automobile market has shown a clear trend of consumption upgrading. In 2021, high-end brand passenger car sales were 3.472 million units, an increase of 20.7% year-on-year, higher than the growth rate of passenger cars by 14.2 percentage points, accounting for 16.2% of total passenger car sales, accounting for 1.9 percentage points higher than the previous year.
Production and sales of commercial vehicles declined
In 2021, production and sales of commercial vehicles totaled 4.674 million units, down 10.7% and 6.6% year-on-year, respectively. Judging from the trend of commercial vehicles throughout the year, due to the low base in the same period in the first quarter, production and sales showed a substantial increase, and sales began to decline year-on-year in the second quarter, and the downward trend in the second half of the year was more obvious.
The production and sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 3.5 million units, which became the biggest highlight
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. Among them, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles reached 2.942 million units and 2.916 million units, up 1.7 times and 1.6 times year-on-year, respectively; the production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles reached 601,000 units and 603,000 units, respectively, an increase of 1.3 times and 1.4 times year-on-year, respectively; the production and sales of fuel cell vehicles completed 0.2 million units, showing year-on-year growth.
New energy vehicles have shifted from policy-driven to market-driven new development stages, showing a good development situation of both market scale and development quality, and becoming the biggest highlight of 2021.
The market share of Chinese brand passenger cars has increased significantly,
will accelerate strategic transformation or capacity reshaping
In 2021, Chinese brand passenger car sales were 9.543 million units, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, accounting for 44.4% of the total passenger car sales, close to the best level in the calendar year, and the share increased by 6 percentage points over the previous year. Among them, The sales of new energy passenger cars of Chinese brands were 2.476 million units, an increase of 1.7 times year-on-year, accounting for 74.3% of the total sales of new energy passenger vehicles.
However, in 2022, new brands in the Chinese market are intensively launched, and foreign brands have accelerated the promotion of transformation strategies, how will Chinese auto brands achieve a breakthrough in brand upwards?
In this regard, Zhu Huarong, rotating president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that it is necessary to make efforts from three aspects.
First, from the direction, to accelerate the transformation to some characteristics of intelligent, new energy, low carbon, travel services, and technology companies, this is a new trend in the development of the industry, and it is a strategic transformation opportunity that must be seized.
Second, from the product, we must accelerate the development to the direction of intelligence, electrification, networking, and lightweight, but we should also develop in the direction of "health".
The third is to seize the new marketing reform from the brand and march into the high-end market. Chinese auto brands have accurate insight into the trend of consumer group rejuvenation, more accurately understand and meet the needs of users for product modeling, configuration needs, car environment, marketing services and other aspects, and continue to launch high-tech products and high-quality services to bring users a better travel experience.
Chinese auto brands should accelerate breakthroughs and innovations on new tracks, help brands to move up through the value of products and services, and promote the healthy competition and development of the automotive industry. In addition, Chinese auto brands should firmly grasp the general trend of intelligent and new energy development, strengthen the strategy of going out, and accelerate the development of markets to developed countries such as Europe and the United States, so as to occupy a good position in the global market.
For example, in 2021, the association organized the "2021 China Automobile Brand Upward Development" special action, including the "See China Automobile" brand tour nationwide, the establishment of the Joint Meeting of Chief Brand Officers of Chinese Automobile Enterprises, and the holding of the Theme Forum on Chinese Brand Development, which have made great progress.
In the next step, Chinese brands should seize the historical opportunity and seize the brand upwards, especially to seize the opportunity period of the future 3-5 development, seize the international market, and accelerate the brand upwards. I believe that in the next 10 years, world-class Chinese brands will be born, and we can look forward to such results.
Guo Shougang, deputy director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also said that when talking about the development of new energy vehicles, he also said that product quality should be further improved. In terms of quality and safety, low temperature application and other aspects of higher standards, stricter requirements, continue to carry out the special action of the upward development of Chinese automobile brands, guide enterprises to improve product quality, improve service levels, establish brand image, so that consumers prefer to buy, more assured to use.
In 2022, China's auto market will maintain its growth trend
According to the forecast of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's total automobile sales are expected to reach 27.5 million in 2022, an increase of about 5% year-on-year. Among them, passenger cars will be 23 million units, an increase of 7% year-on-year; commercial vehicles will be 4.5 million units, down 6% year-on-year; new energy vehicles will reach 5 million units, an increase of 42% year-on-year, and the market share is expected to exceed 18%.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers