On April 11, the China Automobile Association released the latest data showing that the cumulative sales of commercial vehicles in the first quarter of 2022 were 965,000 units, down 31.7% year-on-year, and the decline was wider than that in January and February. Among them, 873,000 trucks and 91,000 passenger cars were down 32.8% and 18.7% year-on-year, respectively. In stark contrast, the cumulative sales of new energy commercial vehicles were 49,000 units, an increase of 97.9% year-on-year.
Usually, March is the traditional peak sales season for heavy-duty trucks, but due to factors such as rising oil prices, only 77,000 units were sold this year, down 67% year-on-year and the lowest point in the same period in five years. Since May last year, monthly sales have "fallen 11 times in a row". From January to March, a total of 232,000 units were sold, down 56.4% year-on-year. In contrast, the production and sales of new energy heavy trucks are booming. Sales in the first two months reached 3,233 units, up 1,076.3% year-on-year. Products are in short supply, and orders from some companies have been scheduled for May.
Below we will briefly introduce the sales volume of new energy heavy trucks in January-February 2022 (data source: terminal license). At present, the industry can be roughly divided into three camps: the "traditional heavy truck faction" represented by FAW Jiefang, Heavy Duty Truck, Dongfeng, Shaanxi Automobile and Foton, the "curve overtaking faction" such as Hanma Technology, XCMG Heavy Truck, Sany Automobile, and Beiben Heavy Duty Truck, and the "cross-border strength faction" such as Yutong Automobile, Nanjing Jinlong and BYD.
The head car companies of fuel heavy trucks are accelerating the pace of transformation. For example, FAW issued the 15333 "new energy strategy, planning to sell 500,000 new energy vehicles by 2035; Dongfeng won the bid for 120 pure electric heavy-duty truck projects in March; Shaanxi Automobile vigorously developed new energy tractors and dump trucks; Beiqi Foton (Zhilan Heavy Truck) released China's first Zhilan liquid hydrogen heavy truck, which represents the highest achievement of domestic hydrogen fuel technology.
Although the data of the first 2 months alone cannot be "conclusive", on the whole, the "crossover faction" and the "overtaking faction" are slightly dominant. Sany Automobile, which ranked fifth, sold 259 vehicles. As a leader in China's construction machinery, its production and sales of a variety of construction vehicles rank among the forefront in the world, and the product line has covered all new energy heavy-duty truck models such as tractors, dump trucks, special vehicles, and trucks. Coupled with the accumulation of full-life cycle solutions from equipment manufacturing to digital management around smart wind power, mining, smart terminals and other fields, it is not surprising to achieve "curve overtaking".
Hanma Technology, which is under the jurisdiction of Geely Commercial Vehicles, ranked third. As early as 2016, the company set up a research and development team to lay out the field of new energy heavy trucks, and launched the country's first electric replacement tractor two years later. In 2020, after Geely Commercial Vehicle Group invested in Hanma Technology, it formed all-round support in terms of capital investment, technological innovation and resource integration, and accelerated its development in the field of new energy.
Yutong Group, which ranks second, has accumulated rich experience in car manufacturing in the field of new energy buses and mastered the mature "three electric technology". After joining the camp of new energy heavy trucks, it has launched a series of products such as tractors, dump trucks, and mixer trucks, and has also achieved good results.
New energy heavy truck "sales champion": XCMG heavy truck, cumulative sales of 616 vehicles, an increase of 1402% year-on-year. Six years ago, they formulated the development plan and action plan for new energy vehicles, and are one of the earliest enterprises in the top ten heavy trucks in China to invest in the new energy industry, and also the enterprise with the most complete variety of new energy commercial vehicle products in the industry.
Last year was the first year that XCMG New Energy Heavy Truck was fully launched, with orders of 1900 vehicles, terminal delivery of 1200 vehicles (market share of 11.6%), revenue of 780 million yuan, and exports of nearly 30 orders from 3 countries. Its products take power plants, steel mills, wharves, urban engineering transportation as breakthroughs, and blossom in Henan, Hebei, Xinjiang and other markets. This year's sprint of 5,000 vehicles, sales revenue of 3 billion; in 2025 will challenge 30,000 vehicles, to achieve the "double three" (ranked third in the industry, ranked third in the special vehicle market) strategic goal.
Write at the end
Last year, the sales of new energy heavy-duty trucks in China exceeded 10,000 vehicles for the first time, an increase of nearly 3 times year-on-year, far exceeding industry expectations. In 2022, it is expected to be 30,000-50,000 vehicles, an increase of more than 200%. Some industry insiders pointed out that with the implementation of the double carbon target and the increase in the number of charging stations, the industry has entered a period of rapid growth.
However, at present, new energy heavy trucks are mainly used in steel mills, ports, mines and other scenarios, only in a few cities, and there is still a long way to go before "full blooming". On the other hand, new energy heavy trucks, especially power replacement heavy trucks, involve the construction of supporting infrastructure such as charging stations and power stations, and require large-scale capital investment. For users, the cost of vehicle acquisition is also relatively high. What will happen to this hot track? We will continue to pay attention.