Eye-catching data from the automotive industry boosts confidence into the future

Recently, major auto companies have released 2021 production and sales data, comprehensive of the overall data of the auto industry released before, the 2021 "report card" of China's auto industry, whether it is "total score" or "single subject score", there is no lack of bright spots, reflecting the resilience of China's auto industry. Experts said that in 2022, China's auto market will continue to grow, with a year-on-year increase of about 5%.

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Maintain stable development under the change

Recently, Chery Holding Group released its annual sales data, and the cumulative sales of cars in 2021 reached a historic 961,900 units, an increase of 31.7% year-on-year. Among them, the export of 269,200 units, an increase of 136.3% year-on-year, ranked first in the export of Chinese brand passenger cars for 19 consecutive years, and the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 109,000 units, an increase of 144.6% year-on-year. In addition, BYD's passenger car sales exceeded 730,000 units in 2021, an increase of 75.4% year-on-year, while the sales of other leading car companies Geely, Great Wall and Changan all exceeded 1.2 million units.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, automobile production and sales in 2021 reached 26.082 million units and 26.275 million units, up 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year, respectively, ending three consecutive years of decline since 2018. The total production and sales of automobiles in Mainland China have ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years. In the segment, production and sales of passenger cars in 2021 totaled 21.408 million units and 21.482 million units, up 7.1% and 6.5% year-on-year, respectively. The mainland passenger car market has exceeded 20 million units for seven consecutive years.

In the face of the new crown epidemic, chip shortages, raw material price increases and other unfavorable factors, it is not easy for the auto market to achieve such results in 2021, which fully demonstrates the strong resilience of China's auto market, and behind it is the continuous increase in policy support for promoting auto consumption at the central and local levels.

Wang Weiming, director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that in 2021, many parties will actively respond to the shortage of automotive chips and the impact of the outbreak of domestic epidemic scatters on the industrial chain supply chain, and help enterprises stabilize the industrial chain supply chain by building a supply and demand docking platform.

"In 2021, under the background of the overall stable and sustained recovery of domestic macroeconomic operations, the resilience of the automotive industry will continue to be maintained." Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that as an important pillar industry of the national economy, the automotive industry is in a critical stage of transformation and upgrading, and the automotive industry under the change has maintained stable development in recent years, which has played an important role in supporting the stable and good development trend of the macro economy.

New energy vehicles are leading the world

New energy vehicles are undoubtedly still the biggest bright spot in the domestic auto market in 2021.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2021, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in 2021 were 3.521 million units, and the market penetration rate reached 13.4%, an increase of 1.6 times year-on-year, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years, creating the fastest growth rate since 2016. Among them, private consumption accounts for nearly 80%, and the sustainable development capacity is further improved.

"Overall, the mainland's new energy vehicles have entered a new stage of accelerated development, and the leading role in the electrification transformation of the global automotive industry has been further enhanced." Guo Shougang, deputy director of the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said.

The development of new energy vehicles is inseparable from policy support, in 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments on the basis of the implementation of previous policies, actively introduced new policies to support the development of new energy vehicles, industrial development supporting environment further optimized. It is understood that by the end of 2021, the mainland has built a total of 75,000 charging stations, 2.617 million charging piles, 1,298 substations, and more than 10,000 power battery recycling service outlets in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country.

At the same time, various localities have also increased their support for the consumption of new energy vehicles. Some localities have set up special funds to support the renewal consumption of automobiles, and adopted measures such as comprehensive incentives for consumers to purchase new energy vehicles in charging, passing, parking and other use links.

Guo Shougang introduced that in the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will work with relevant departments to formulate policies and measures to support the accelerated development of new energy vehicles, coordinate and improve the ability to guarantee key resources, coordinate and promote the acceleration of the development of domestic lithium resources, organize the preparation of a green and low-carbon development roadmap for the automotive industry, and provide guidance for industry enterprises. In terms of accelerating the promotion and application, we will continue to accelerate the construction of charging and replacing infrastructure, continue to carry out the pilot work of new energy vehicles going to the countryside and replacing the power mode, start the pilot project of comprehensive electrification of vehicles in the public domain, and promote the increase of the proportion of new energy vehicles in the fields of urban public transportation, taxi, logistics and distribution.

Production and sales growth will continue

In addition to new energy vehicles, the market share of independent brand vehicles and the rapid growth of exports have also become two prominent highlights of the domestic automobile market in 2021.

According to the data, in 2021, The sales volume of Chinese brand passenger cars was 9.543 million units, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, and the market share reached 44.4%, up 6 percentage points year-on-year. Chinese brand cars are being recognized by more and more consumers, and originally concentrated in the level of 100,000 yuan of Chinese brand cars, now under the blessing of new energy and intelligent technology, it has exceeded the level of 300,000 yuan, 400,000 yuan, or even more than 500,000 yuan.

In terms of exports, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that in 2021, the export of automobiles was 2.015 million units, an increase of 1 times year-on-year, exceeding 2 million units for the first time, an increase of 3.7 percentage points over the previous year.

Fu Bingfeng said that in the past decade, China's automobile exports have been hovering around 1 million vehicles, and in 2021, it exceeded 2 million for the first time, achieving a historic leap, and China's automobile industry is entering a new stage of global development, especially the explosive growth of new energy vehicle exports.

In 2021, 310,000 new energy vehicles will be exported, an increase of 3 times year-on-year. The European market has become a major incremental market, mainly concentrated in Developed Countries such as Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Norway, reflecting the international competitive advantage of China's new energy vehicles.

It is worth mentioning that Chinese brand new energy vehicles have not adopted the strategy of exchanging low prices for market space in overseas markets. The price of some new energy models in the European and American markets is basically the same as the domestic price. This means that on the new energy vehicle track, Chinese brands already have the ability to compete with other brands in overseas markets.

Chip shortage is an important factor affecting the development of the automotive industry in 2021, and this unfavorable factor will be alleviated in the future.

Wang Weiming said that the current global major chip companies have gradually increased the production and supply of automotive chips, and new production capacity will be released in the second half of this year, and it is expected that the shortage of automotive chip supply in 2022 will gradually ease. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will also take measures to continue to strengthen the upstream and downstream supply and demand docking and the work coordination of all parties, coordinate and promote the promotion and application of automotive chips, joint research, guide social capital to actively invest in production, manufacturing and packaging and testing, and improve the supply capacity of automotive chips.

Based on these factors, Fu Bingfeng said that the total sales of mainland vehicles in 2022 are expected to reach 27.5 million units, an increase of about 5% year-on-year. Among them, new energy vehicles will reach 5 million, an increase of 42% year-on-year, and the market share is expected to exceed 18%.

"The long-term macroeconomic fundamentals of the mainland will not change, ensuring the sustained growth of the automobile market." Fu Bingfeng said that with the deepening of supply-side reforms, mainland automobile production and sales will maintain sustained growth. Especially under the guidance of the national automobile industry policy, new industrial technologies continue to break through, products better meet the growing needs of consumers, consumers' acceptance of new energy and intelligent networked vehicles continues to increase, and the rapid development of new energy vehicle industrialization has jointly promoted the development of the automobile market.