In March, in the high-end B-class car market led by the "Top Three Germans", only the sales of Mercedes-Benz C-class exceeded the 10,000 mark, standing out with 15,586 units and winning the monthly championship. Sales of BMW 3 Series and Audi A4L both showed double-digit declines. Overall, in the first quarter, the cumulative sales of the three models were only 94624 vehicles, while in the same period last year, the cumulative sales of the three models have entered the threshold of 40,000 vehicles, with a total of more than 130,000 vehicles.
The "Japanese Three Musketeers", represented by Camry, Accord and Tianlai, have performed prominently and continue to "dominate the top three". Among them, camry sales in March were 27,211 units, an increase of 78.9% year-on-year, and a cumulative sales of 68,904 units in the first quarter, an increase of 73.3% year-on-year, consolidating the top position of the joint venture B-class car. The Accord was close behind with 20,667 units sold in March, with a cumulative sales of 54,856 units. The "Ashkenazi double males" that were once sought after by consumers, Passat and Maiten ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
Due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Beijing Auto Show, which was scheduled to be held on April 21, announced that it has been postponed and the restart date is expected to be set. But this has not affected the speed of major car companies to innovate: FAW Toyota's new Asian Dragon, Ford's new generation of Mondeo "cloud listing"; 2022 BMW 3 Series, 2022 Dongfeng Infiniti Q50L ushered in the annual small revamp... The B-segment segment has set off a wave of new small climaxes.
The new generation of Mondeo is taken from the online conference
It is worth noting that due to the ongoing shortage of semiconductor supply, coupled with the impact of the epidemic restriction measures, domestic automobile production and sales in March were less than expected, dragging down the industry's performance in the first quarter. According to the China Association of Passenger Vehicles, mainland China produced 1.823 million passenger cars in March, down 0.3% year-on-year, and retail sales of 1.579 million units, down 10.5% y/y. In the first quarter, cumulative retail sales of passenger cars totaled 4.915 million units, down 4.5% year-on-year. Among them, the sedan performed better than the SUV, with a cumulative sales of 2.368 million units, although down 5.3% year-on-year, but still the largest market share of the model.
Focusing on the market segment, in March, in the high-end B-class car market led by the "Top Three Ashkenazi" (BMW Brilliance, Beijing Benz, and FAW Audi), only the sales volume of mercedes-Benz C-class exceeded the 10,000 mark, standing out with a result of 15,586 units and winning the monthly championship. Sales of BMW 3 Series and Audi A4L both showed double-digit declines. Overall, in the first quarter, the cumulative sales of the three models of the above brands were only 94,624 vehicles, while in the same period last year, the cumulative sales of the three models have entered the threshold of 40,000 vehicles, with a total of more than 130,000 vehicles.
In the first quarter, the ranking of high-end B-class cars remained unchanged, but BMW 3 Series and Audi A4L sales fell sharply in March. In this regard, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, said in an interview with a reporter from China Economic Network that due to the impact of the epidemic and "lack of core", the production capacity of high-end vehicles is seriously insufficient, coupled with changes in the epidemic prevention and control situation in some main sales areas, resulting in a decline in sales.
It is understood that due to the impact of the epidemic, since March 13, FAW Group has suspended production at five OEMs in Changchun. Audi's main sales models such as A6L, Q5L, and A4L have been affected. In the same month, BMW Brilliance's plant in Shenyang also suspended production due to epidemic prevention and control reasons.
In the subsequent visit to the 4S store, the reporter learned that the Audi A4L is currently discounted by 60,000 yuan, which is not much different from before, but some models need to wait for about 1 month. The staff said that the impact of the suspension of production is still quite large, and it will take some time to return to the normal production level. In addition, some models of BMW 3 Series need to wait 1-2 months to pick up the car, with a preferential range of 40,000 yuan. In contrast, the supply of Mercedes-Benz C-class is orderly, and the existing cars in the store are relatively sufficient, and the discount is about 50,000 yuan.
The sales shock of the "Top Three Germans" in March brought about an overall decline in the high-end B-class car market, but the joint venture B-class car market remained stable and rising.
The "Japanese Three Musketeers", represented by Camry, Accord and Tianlai, have performed prominently and continue to "dominate the top three". Among them, the Camry sold 27,211 vehicles in March, an increase of 78.9% year-on-year; in the first quarter, a total of 68,904 units were sold, an increase of 73.3% year-on-year, consolidating the top position of the joint venture B-class car. The Accord sold 20,667 units in March, followed by a cumulative sales of 54,856 units in the first quarter. The "Ashkenazi double males" that were once sought after by consumers, Passat and Maiten ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
Since October last year, Camry has made significant efforts, with monthly sales almost maintaining at the level of 25,000+, and finally achieving overtaking, winning the top spot in the 2021 joint venture B-class car market. Entering 2022, camry's growth momentum has not decreased, but the growth rate of "old rival" Accord is slowing down.
Some insiders pointed out that the continuous increase in sales of Camry is related to the empowerment of its dual-engine hybrid models. With the rise in the price of raw materials for power batteries, the price of new energy vehicles has generally risen, and the rise in fuel prices has pushed up the cost of using traditional fuel vehicles. As a result, hybrid models have reaped market dividends due to their balance of economy and travel convenience.
It is worth mentioning that Ford's new generation of Mondeo was officially launched on April 13, and a total of 4 models of new cars were launched, priced at 159,800-216,800 yuan. After 9 years, Mondeo has finally ushered in a new generation, from a starting price of less than 160,000 to a 1.1m ultra-wide area hd giant screen, the standard 2.0T+ 8AT power combination and other configurations of the whole series, which reflects The "broken boat" of Changan Ford.
Looking back at 2013, the fourth generation of Mondeo went public, and the new car swept the joint venture B-class car market with "unique" sports, youthfulness and other selling points, and the monthly sales repeatedly exceeded 10,000. However, after 2018, Mondeo gradually entered a downward range, and sales continued to decline. In the following years, although sales increased slightly, they always hovered in the "tail echelon" of the market segment. It remains to be seen whether the new generation of Mondeo can return to the peak of sales. (China Economic Network reporter Zhang Yi)