Written by | Song Yuting
According to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, in February 2022, the preliminary statistics of the wholesale sales of passenger cars in the narrow sense in China were 1.502 million units, with an average daily wholesale sales of 54,000 units, an increase of 31% over February last year and a decrease of 30% from January.
At the beginning of March, according to the February sales data released by a number of car companies, February is not only the month with the fewest days in the year, but also coincides with the Spring Festival holiday, and many car companies have suffered "waist cuts", which can be said to be the off-season of the car market.
The hot new forces of the car have been released early on, but without exception, they have increased year-on-year, falling sharply from the previous month, and none of them have delivered more than 10,000.
In February, Ideal Automobile delivered 8,414 new cars, up 265.8% year-on-year and down 31.4% month-on-month; Nezha Automobile delivered 7,117 new cars, up 255% year-on-year and 35.4% month-on-month; Xiaopeng Automobile delivered 6,225 new cars, up 180% year-on-year and 51.8% month-on-month; WEILAI Automobile delivered 6,131 new cars, up 9.9% year-on-year and 36.5% month-on-month; and Zero-run cars delivered 3,435 new cars, up 447% year-on-year. Decreased 57.5% sequentially.
Among them, Ideal Auto once again topped the list of single-month deliveries after five months.
Regarding the month-on-month decline in deliveries, Shen Yanan, co-founder and president of Ideal Automobile, said: "Due to the impact of the Spring Festival holiday and the epidemic in Suzhou, the shortage of parts and components has affected production, and we are taking more measures to ensure the supply of parts, ensure production as much as possible, and shorten the waiting period for users to pick up the car." ”
Coincidentally, the zero-running car that fell the most from the previous month also said that it was affected by the Spring Festival holiday and the tight supply chain of chips and batteries.
Xiaopeng Automobile said that during the Spring Festival holiday from the end of January to February, Xiaopeng Automobile carried out a technical transformation of the Zhaoqing base and has now fully resumed production in mid-February as planned.
In fact, the Spring Festival off-season, chip supply shortage and other issues have affected almost the entire car market, and traditional car companies are no exception.
SAIC Volkswagen sales figures showed that its sales in February were 90,604 units, up 79.4% year-on-year and down 30.6% month-on-month.
Production and sales data released by BYD shows that a total of 91,078 units increased in February, an increase of 335.2% year-on-year. Among them, the sales of new energy passenger cars were 87,473 units, an increase of 764.1% year-on-year, down 5.9% month-on-month, accounting for 96% of the total sales of new vehicles.
Geely Automobile, on the other hand, was also affected by the shortage of body electronic stability system (ESP) chips and the Spring Festival holiday, resulting in sales of 78,487 units in February, although up 2% year-on-year, but down 46% month-on-month.
It is worth noting that the sales volume of its own brand BYD has surpassed that of saicutair Volkswagen, the joint venture big brother, successfully changed the pattern of the automobile market, and led the sustainable development of independent brands.
For the follow-up trend of the automobile market, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, is optimistic that the economic situation in 2022 will become increasingly complex and severe, the post-holiday production and life under the influence of the epidemic, the recovery of the service industry will be more cautious, coupled with the prevention and control of major events such as the Winter Olympics, the car market will pick up slowly in February. However, with the return of middle-aged migrant workers, the structural recovery of the automobile market is facing better opportunities.
Looking at the foreign market, it is also affected by the shortage of chips and the low inventory level, and the sales volume of many car companies is not optimistic.
In February, Honda's U.S. sales fell more than 10 percent for the second straight month, and the company said supply issues and winter storms that swept through Colorado, New Mexico and the Great Lakes region were the main reasons for its sales decline.
Not only that, but in the United States in February, Ford sales fell by nearly 21%, Toyota sales fell by 11%, Subaru sales fell by 7%, and Volvo Cars sales fell by 32%.
Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry research firm Edmunds, is pessimistic about the market, arguing that the industry's recovery road this year will face many ups and downs as inventory levels remain low.
In Norway, new car registrations fell 24 percent in February from a year earlier, while the share of zero-emission vehicles fell to about 76 percent from 84 percent in January.
The Norwegian Road Traffic Information Board said the shortage of automotive semiconductors was the main reason for the decline in new car sales, while the challenges in the logistics and transportation of new cars exacerbated the decline.
Data from Italy's Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport showed that consumer demand for electric vehicles fell after government incentives ended, affecting new car sales in Italy by 23 percent to 110,869 units in February.
It is worth noting that the supply chain of the global car market has been disrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic and chip shortages, and now the escalation of the situation in Russia and Ukraine has exacerbated the soaring cost of raw materials and the rise in the prices of nickel, lithium and other materials.
According to industry analysts, this phenomenon is likely to delay the time for electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles to achieve cost parity, and may hinder the widespread application of electric vehicles, which has become the most serious problem in the current supply chain. 【iDailycar】