What signals have been released in February for high-end passenger cars and plug-in hybrid models to rise rapidly?

February's automobile production and sales data showed several interesting phenomena, including the rapid growth of high-end passenger cars and the increase in plug-and-mix models against pure electric models. This not only releases signals for the development of car companies, but also reflects the challenges and pressures facing the automotive industry today.

Sales of high-end passenger cars have led to an increase in passenger cars

In February, vehicle production and sales reached 1.813 million units, down 25.2% and 31.4% sequentially, and up 20.6% and 18.7% year-on-year. From January to February, production and sales totaled 4.235 million units, up 8.8% y/y, and sales totaled 4.268 million units, up 7.5% y/y.

The China Automobile Association told the "China Times" reporter: "Due to the Spring Festival holiday factors and the impact of the multi-point sporadic epidemic in some parts of the country, the month-on-month decline has been significant, and the reason for the year-on-year growth is that new energy and automobile exports play a positive role in promoting; Second, the demand for inventory replenishment has driven growth. ”

It is worth noting that in February, more than 1.48 million passenger cars, mainly private cars, contributed much more than commercial vehicles mainly based on trucks.

Specifically, production and sales of passenger cars totaled 1.534 million units and 1.487 million units, down 26.1% and 32.0% respectively month-on-month and 32.0% year-on-year, respectively, and production and sales of passenger cars totaled 3.612 million units and 3.674 million units, up 17.6% and 14.4% year-on-year, respectively. In February, production of commercial vehicles totaled 279,000 units, down 19.2% and 27.4% month-on-month, respectively. Sales of commercial vehicles decreased by 18.3% and 16.6% year-on-year, respectively, while production of commercial vehicles totaled 624,000 units and 594,000 units, down 24.0% and 21.7% year-on-year, respectively.

Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Association, told reporters: "In February, the sales of high-end brand passenger cars reached 268,000 units, an increase of 31.6% year-on-year, an increase of 20.5 percentage points over January, and continued to maintain a higher growth rate than that of passenger cars as a whole." ”

Although the chip shortage is now improving, the overall stable growth of production and sales of car companies will boost automobile production and sales, but it cannot be ignored that the impact that still exists. For example, the chip shortage problem has not been completely solved and cannot be taken lightly, while the cost of raw materials continues to rise, which also affects the automobile industry at any time, and the task of ensuring supply and price stability is very arduous.

The most important point is that the international oil price has risen sharply, which is also further affecting the domestic refined oil price. For ordinary consumers, the cost of daily refueling is also gradually rising, which means that the cost of fuel vehicles is also further increasing, which invisibly also brings certain pressure to the sales of fuel vehicles.

Plug-in models rose more than pure electric models

In terms of new energy, which has been attracting much attention, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in February declined month-on-month, and continued to maintain rapid growth year-on-year. Production and sales reached 368,000 units and 334,000 units, down 18.6% and 22.7% sequentially, up 2.0 times and 1.8 times year-on-year, while production and sales of new energy vehicles in January and February were 820,000 units and 765,000 units, up 1.6 times and 1.5 times year-on-year.

It should be noted that the price increase of raw materials has also led to a sharp increase in the price of raw materials such as ternary lithium for power batteries, which has enabled car companies to switch from ternary lithium to the purchase of lithium carbonate, and the China Automobile Association said: "The price increase of raw materials has led to an increase in the cost of A00-class new energy models, so car companies have been forced to switch to other materials to replace, although the price difference between the two is not too large, but it can still reduce costs to a certain extent." ”

This month also presented a very interesting phenomenon, the hot pure electric models are only growing steadily, but the plug-in hybrid models have increased rapidly, reaching 3.4 times.

Chen Shihua pointed out in the analysis: "On the one hand, in the policy environment, the intensity of subsidies is getting less and less, and it is likely to be cancelled by the end of this year. The manufacturing cost of new energy vehicles is still very high, and plug-in hybrids have certain advantages in cost compared to pure electric. On the other hand, consumers are still more inclined to have advantages in battery life and charging of new energy vehicle products, so now plug-in hybrid power is the best solution. ”

In terms of automobile exports, in February, automobile companies exported a total of 180,000 vehicles, an increase of more than 60% year-on-year, a month-on-month decline of more than 20%, the highest contribution is still new energy models, export growth contribution of 52%; from January to February, automobile companies exported 412,000 vehicles, an increase of 75.0% year-on-year.

However, due to the impact of the situation in Russia and Ukraine, the growth of subsequent automobile exports may slow down. The China Automobile Association told the "China Times" reporter: "What needs special attention is that Chinese car companies directly export Russian vehicles and assembled vehicles with parts and components, with a total of more than 100,000 vehicles, while exports to Ukraine are in the thousands, summarizing the exports of the two regions based on the total export volume of 2 million vehicles last year, accounting for about 5-6%. Most of the mainland's exports go by sea, and conflicts and sanctions will also have an impact on shipping, so the impact is certainly there. But the specific impact will not be presented until next month. ”

Looking forward to the entire first quarter, in addition to some of the above positive factors, auto companies are also accelerating the pace of new product listings, and it is expected that the auto market in the first quarter is expected to show a steady growth trend. However, the China Automobile Association also gave suggestions that enterprises need to pay attention to changes in the internal and external situation in a timely manner, actively plan, and continuously improve their ability to cultivate opportunities in the crisis and open a new situation in the changing situation.

Responsible Editor: Li Yan'an Editor-in-Chief: Yu Jianping