In March, the epidemic rebounded in many parts of the country, the prevention and control situation was severe and complex, and the domestic automobile market was also tense. According to the China Automobile Association, under the influence of the epidemic, the difficulties of market players have increased significantly, the smooth flow of the economic cycle has encountered some constraints, and the new downward pressure has further increased.
According to the latest terminal data obtained by China Pickup Truck Network, in March 2022, the number of domestic pickup truck terminals was 33,897 units, down 33.6% year-on-year; the cumulative number of insurance vehicles in January-March was 93,348 vehicles, a cumulative year-on-year increase of 18.9%. According to previous years, March was supposed to be the peak sales period of pickup trucks and the overall automobile market in the first half of the year, but under the influence of repeated epidemics, chip shortages and insufficient consumer demand, pickup truck sales in March showed a sharp decline.
In terms of brands, the ranking of pickup truck companies on the sales list has not changed significantly, but under the influence of the epidemic, almost all companies have not been able to get rid of the year-on-year decline. However, driven by the launch of new products, terminal discounts and peak season effects, compared with February, most pickup truck brands have shown considerable growth, especially after the launch of the Great Wall King Kong Cannon and Futian New Conqueror, the commercial pickup truck market has climbed, and the 100,000 yuan pickup truck plate, which occupies the largest sales volume, will further exert its strength.
Among them, the Great Wall pickup truck returned to the high operating trend of 15,000 units per month, once again consolidating the bell position; Jiangling pickup truck in Baodian, Yuhu two major car series driven by the sales of 5257 units in March, and not long ago, Jiangling and Ford sent a deeper cooperation signal, the market expects Ford, Jiangling to cooperate to create pickup products the call is increasing day by day.
The competition between the two joint venture brands Jiangxi Isuzu and Zhengzhou Nissan in March is still glued, although Jiangxi Isuzu has achieved "upper position" many times, but from the overall sales volume in the first quarter, Zhengzhou Nissan, which is rising against the trend, is obviously not easy to be defeated. It is worth mentioning that Jiangxi Isuzu Suzuto Gasoline 8AT Edition and Zhengzhou Nissan's new pickup truck Ruiqi 7 have been put on the agenda and will meet with Kayou in the second quarter, and the trend of the two products will play an important role in the future trend of the two joint venture brands.
In addition, under the advantages of the first two months, Zhengzhou Nissan and Qingling pickup trucks bucked the trend in the first quarter, while the addition of new brands and new models such as Changan Leapfrog, Geely Remote FX, and China National Heavy Duty Truck VGV added new strength to the pickup truck market, and we also look forward to more new pickup brands to break through the siege and jointly promote the sales growth of domestic pickup trucks.
It should be noted that the terminal insurance data does not include export sales, and according to the statistics of the China Automobile Association, domestic pickup trucks were exported overseas in March, an increase of 114.17% year-on-year, and the cumulative export of 41184 vehicles in the first quarter, a cumulative increase of 54.84%. Among them, SAIC Maxus, Great Wall, Changan, Jianghuai has become a pioneer brand for foreign exports, as more and more pickup truck companies begin to expand overseas markets, the development strategy of double-line parallel at home and abroad has become a new trend in the industry, and overseas markets have also become an important part of domestic pickup truck sales.
From a regional point of view, there was a "shuffle" in the ranking of 31 provinces (cities) in the country in March. Hebei and Shandong, which have always performed strongly in the pickup truck market, saw a significant decline in sales in March due to the greater impact of the epidemic, and sales and rankings in Jilin, Tianjin, Shanghai and other areas where the epidemic was more serious declined. Xinjiang, which is less affected by external factors, jumped to the top of the list, and the overall performance is almost the same as last year, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan performance is acceptable, although sales are not as strong as in previous years, but the overall level is still online.
From the perspective of fuel classification, the pickup trucks sold in March are still mainly diesel-powered, with a total of 26679 diesel pickups and 7113 gasoline pickups sold, and 114 pure electric pickups sold. Among them, diesel four-wheel drive models accounted for 43.5%, mainly concentrated in the southeast and southwest regions; and in gasoline pickup trucks, two-wheel drive models are more popular, and due to engine advantages, gasoline engines are more likely to be accepted by the northern regions such as north China and northwest China, which are cold in winter and flat terrain.
On the whole, affected by external objective factors, the domestic pickup truck market in the first quarter was under greater pressure, and the overall situation of the automobile market was not as good as expected. According to the China Automobile Association, from the perspective of automobile supply, the shortage of chips in March has not been significantly alleviated, and the price of raw materials has risen rapidly, further pushing up the manufacturing costs of enterprise products, and the production and operation activities of automobile enterprises have been affected to a certain extent; from the perspective of automobile consumption, the consumption momentum is obviously insufficient, and compared with the same period, it shows a certain decline.
Looking forward to the situation throughout the year, affected by the macro-economy, the development of the automotive industry is facing the triple pressure of demand contraction, supply shock and weak expectations, and the task of stabilizing growth is very arduous. The China Automobile Association called for local governments to refine the national policies and measures on stable growth as soon as possible, and enterprises should continue to actively take effective countermeasures, and at the same time, it is recommended that government departments introduce policies and measures to promote automobile consumption, including the previous effective purchase tax halving policy.