The heavy-duty truck market in 2022, in the prediction of "winter is coming", started hard, affected by the global economic downturn, the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the multi-point distribution of the domestic epidemic, the continuous surge in fuel prices and the shortage of vehicles and other unfavorable factors, the cumulative sales of domestic heavy-duty trucks in the first quarter were 232,000 units, down 56.3% from 531,000 units last year.
In recent years, the heavy-duty truck market has continued to run at a high level, laying the groundwork for today's market decline, and the implementation of the National VI emission standards in July last year has further exacerbated the early "overdraft" of market demand. Therefore, the industry has long anticipated the relatively sluggish situation of the heavy-duty truck market in the first quarter, and the change in the inherent competitive pattern of the domestic heavy-duty truck market has confirmed that "adversity is the touchstone of strength".
Who will spend the first quarter sales champion?
If the overall decline of the heavy-duty truck industry in the first quarter was a foregone conclusion before entering 2022, it is not surprising that various heavy-duty truck companies have entered the competition of "less sales decline". According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first three months of this year, among the top 5 sales companies, Sinotruk is the smallest decline in heavy-duty truck enterprises, it is worth mentioning that Sinotruk with 55,000 heavy-duty truck sales, sitting on the top spot in the first quarter of heavy-duty truck sales, 23.7% market share, but also increased by 6.9 percentage points over the same period last year, is the largest increase in share of a company.
The industry reshuffle is no accident
In recent years, in the domestic heavy-duty truck market, regardless of the speed of product iteration, or the number of new products listed, Sinotruk has achieved the industry's best; in the face of the overall "lack of core" constraints in the industry last year, the full implementation of the national six emission regulations for heavy vehicles, Sinotruk has burst out of the momentum of going against the current, since July last year, under the situation of continuous decline in the overall monthly sales of the heavy-duty truck industry, it has reached the "five consecutive championships" of monthly sales. In the end, with the cumulative sales of 286,400 vehicles in 2021, the market ranking was raised to the second place, just one step away from the championship.
Entering 2022, Sinotruk has continued its efforts, and many heavyweight new products such as the Haowo MAX truck launched in the first quarter, which focuses on "youth and wealth creation", the Shandeka C9H, which has advanced to a higher end, and the new commander of HOWO, which can be called "high-end light truck ceiling", have performed well in major market segments. With continuous efforts and multi-point blossoming, Sinotruk has climbed the ladder and ascended to the sales champion throne of the heavy-duty truck industry, rewriting the inherent competitive pattern formed by the heavy-duty truck industry for many years.
Stabilization in the second quarter The heavy truck market can be expected in the future
Although the sales volume of heavy-duty trucks in the first quarter has declined year-on-year, we should also see that under the guarantee of stable domestic freight volume and the overall improvement of the epidemic situation in various places, domestic heavy-duty truck sales are expected to rebound in the second quarter. With the possibility of the inflection point in the second half of the year, major heavy-duty truck companies will also be able to keep the cloud open, so where will the industry pattern go?
The second quarter of 2022 has begun, the first echelon of the heavy-duty truck market has set sail, and it remains to be seen whether Sinotruk can successfully "defend its title" in the second quarter.
(Reporting by Wang Xinlei, client reporter of Dazhong Daily)