China's auto sales fell 13.9% year-on-year in March, and downward pressure increased. The China Automobile Association believes that the task of stabilizing the growth of the automotive industry throughout this year is very arduous, and suggests that the government introduce policies and measures to promote automobile consumption, such as halving the purchase tax.
The latest production and sales data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on April 11 showed that China's automobile sales in March fell by 13.9% year-on-year, and the downward pressure increased.
In the face of the triple pressure of demand contraction, supply shock and expected weakening, the association believes that the task of stable growth of the automotive industry throughout this year is very arduous, so it calls on all localities to refine the relevant stable growth policies of the landing countries as soon as possible, and recommends that government departments introduce policies and measures to promote automobile consumption, such as the purchase tax halving policy.
China's auto industry prosperity index ACI also indicates that there is downward pressure on the future operation of the auto industry. The index was 42 in the first quarter of 2022, up 18 points from the fourth quarter of last year. Although operating in the normal range, the leading composite index, which measures future prosperity, was down 2.43 points from the previous quarter.
Just a month ago, when the China Automobile Association released the February automobile production and sales data, the industry was generally optimistic, at that time, the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation was not very severe, but the tight supply of chips and the price increase of power batteries were more prominent. In February, production and sales of automobiles totaled 1.813 million units, up 20.6% and 18.7% year-on-year, respectively.
However, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse in March, with vehicle production reaching 2.241 million units and 2.234 million units in the month, down 9.1% and 11.7% year-on-year. Production and sales of passenger cars totaled 1.881 million units and 1.864 million units, down 0.1% and 0.6% year-on-year. Commercial vehicle production totaled 360,000 units and 370,000 units, down 38.0% and 43.5% year-on-year.
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. Production and sales of passenger cars totaled 5.499 million units and 5.545 million units, up 11.0% and 9.0% year-on-year. Commercial vehicle production and sales of 985,000 units and 965,000 units, down 29.7% and 31.7% year-on-year
As for the reasons for the decline in automobile sales in March, the Analysis of the China Automobile Association believes that the combined effect of various factors has led to the overall production and sales of automobiles being less than expected. In March, there was a cluster of epidemics in many parts of the country, coupled with a significant increase in international geopolitical instability, and the production and operation activities of enterprises were affected. 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.
In March, the sales of new energy vehicles have not yet declined, becoming the only market bright spot. According to the data, in March, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 465,000 units and 484,000 units, respectively, an increase of 1.1 times year-on-year, and the market share reached 21.7%. From January to March, production and sales of new energy vehicles totaled 1.293 million units and 1.257 million units, up 1.4 times year-on-year, with a market share of 19.3%.
In contrast, sales of traditional fuel vehicles in March fell by 26.8% year-on-year, and from January to March, they fell by 15% year-on-year.
In the new energy vehicle market, plug-in hybrid models are growing faster. Sales of pure electric passenger cars in March were 373,000 units, up 111.8% year-on-year, and plug-in hybrid passenger cars were 87,000 units, up 142.6% year-on-year, the data showed that the data showed. From January to March, cumulative sales of all-electric passenger cars increased by 128.5% year-on-year to 960,000 units, while sales of plug-in hybrid passenger cars increased by 247,000 units, up 203.1% year-on-year.