China Commercial Automobile Network News Today, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as the China Automobile Association) held a monthly regular press conference. According to data from the China Automobile Association, in March 2022, automobile production and sales reached 2.241 million units and 2.234 million units, respectively, up 23.4% and 28.4% month-on-month, and down 9.1% and 11.7% year-on-year.
According to the analysis of the China Automobile Association, recently, there have been clusters of epidemics in many parts of the country, coupled with a significant increase in international geopolitical instability, and the production and operation activities of mainland enterprises have been affected to a certain extent. In addition, the shortage of chips has not improved significantly, especially the rapid rise in the price of raw materials for power batteries has promoted the rise in production costs of enterprises, so most companies have raised sales prices, affecting sales in the terminal market. Affected by this, the overall production and sales situation of automobiles is less than expected.
In March, commercial vehicle production and sales totaled 360,000 units, up 29.2% and 47.7% sequentially and 38.0% and 43.5% y/y. Among the main varieties of commercial vehicles, the production and sales of trucks and buses showed rapid growth month-on-month, and both showed a rapid decline year-on-year.
In March, in the subdivision of trucks, compared with the previous month, the output of mini-trucks showed a rapid decline, sales increased significantly, and the production and sales of other three major types of trucks showed an increase; compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of the four major types of trucks declined to varying degrees, of which the decline in heavy trucks was more obvious. In the subdivision of bus varieties, compared with the previous month, the production and sales of the three major types of bus varieties showed growth, of which the growth rate of large buses was the most significant; compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of large buses showed growth, and medium-sized and light buses declined.
In March, heavy trucks sold 77,000 units, down 66.6% y/y; medium-duty trucks sold 12,000 units, down 53.4% y/y; light trucks sold 182,000 units, down 33.3% y/y; and minivans sold 61,000 units, down 15.7% y/y.
In March, large buses sold 0.5 million units, up 12.8% year-on-year; medium-sized buses sold 0.2 million units, down 24.4% year-on-year; and light buses sold 31,000 units, down 31.7% y/y.
From January to March, automobile production and sales were 6.484 million units and 6.509 million units, up 2.0% and 0.2% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 6.8 percentage points and 7.3 percentage points lower than that in January and February.
From January to March, production and sales of commercial vehicles totaled 985,000 units and 965,000 units, down 29.7% and 31.7% year-on-year, a decline that was wider than in January and February. Among the main varieties of commercial vehicles, compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of buses and trucks showed a rapid decline.
From January to March, among the main varieties of trucks, compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of mini-trucks continued to grow, and the other three major categories showed a decline, and the decline in heavy trucks was more obvious. Among the main varieties of buses, compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of large buses still showed rapid growth, and medium-sized and light buses continued to decline.