As we all know, the lack of core since 2022, the rise in raw material prices and the outbreak of the epidemic at multiple points have brought severe tests to the automobile market.
In the first quarter of this year, the cumulative production and sales of automobiles increased slightly year-on-year, but the growth rate declined significantly. Among them, the passenger car market lost 200,000 units in March, and the situation is not optimistic. Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Association, said frankly that the growth of the automobile market was judged to be about 5% at the beginning of 2022, but if there is no obvious increase in the policy of promoting the growth of the automobile industry, it will be difficult to achieve the growth target expected at the beginning of the year this year.
At the same time, the China Automobile Dealers Association also conducted a survey, found the huge difficulties faced by the industry in operation, and submitted the "Report on the Current Difficulties in the Automobile Market and Circulation Industry and Policy Suggestions" to the competent authorities, committed to deepening the reform of automobile circulation, bailing out automobile circulation enterprises, and promoting and expanding automobile consumption.
Today, with the joint efforts of the whole industry, the policy at the national level has finally landed. A few days ago, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Releasing Consumption Potential to Promote the Sustained Recovery of Consumption" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), which guided the automotive industry, launched the first shot to promote automobile consumption in 2022, and also injected a "cardiotonic agent" into the automobile market.
Multiple initiatives to promote automobile consumption
In order to release the consumption potential and promote the sustained recovery of consumption, the "Opinions" put forward 20 measures in five major aspects, many of which involve the automotive industry, and clearly proposed to steadily increase bulk consumption such as automobiles.
Specifically, the relaxation of the purchase restriction policy was mentioned again. The "Opinions" pointed out that all regions must not add new car purchase restriction measures, and areas that have implemented purchase restrictions should gradually increase the number of automobile incremental indicators, relax the qualification restrictions of car buyers, encourage the implementation of differentiated urban and suburban indicators in areas except for a few megacities, adjust the use of automobiles through legal, economic and scientific and technological means, gradually cancel automobile purchase restrictions according to local conditions, and promote the transformation of consumer goods such as automobiles from purchase management to use management.
It is understood that at present, the mainland has implemented the purchase restriction policy of automobile number plates in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Hainan and other places. Previously, the national level has repeatedly called for the cancellation of purchase restrictions, but only Guiyang canceled the lottery in 2019, and others such as Guangzhou and Beijing have increased the indicators of new energy vehicles.
Shen Jinjun, president of the China Automobile Dealers Association, pointed out in an interview that many of the purchase restriction measures are temporary and phased, and after years of development, there have been many problems to think about. At the same time, the purchase restrictions in first- and second-tier cities have greatly inhibited automobile consumption, and local governments should adjust automobile consumption according to local development.
At the same time, the "Opinions" also proposed to completely cancel the policy of restricting the relocation of second-hand cars, implement inter-provincial measures for the registration of small non-operating second-hand car transactions, and implement refined management of pickup trucks entering the city, and study further relax the restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city.
According to the data, the transaction volume of used cars in the mainland in 2021 was 17.585 million units, an increase of 22.6% year-on-year, becoming a new fulcrum for the development of the industry. However, compared with the second-hand car trading volume in developed countries, which is about twice the transaction volume of new cars, the mainland second-hand car market still has a lot of room for development.
However, the relocation policy has hindered the circulation of second-hand cars to a certain extent, and the industry generally believes that the cancellation of the second-hand car relocation policy has taken an important step to create a free circulation environment for the second-hand car market. In addition, the inclusion of pickup trucks in the promotion of consumption initiatives will also play a strong role in promoting the development of the pickup truck market.
In addition, the "Opinions" also emphasizes supporting the accelerated development of new energy vehicles, promoting new energy vehicles to go to the countryside and improving the ability of automobile financial services, etc., to comprehensively promote the growth of automobile consumption from many aspects in many fields.
Help boost the automotive market
The industry generally believes that the release of many policies at the national level will greatly boost the confidence of the automobile industry, which is conducive to stabilizing market confidence. In addition, measures such as the cancellation of second-hand car relocation restrictions and the lifting of the ban on pickup trucks are also expected to promote new developments in the market segment.
Taking the new energy market as an example, under the background of the cold automotive industry, the new energy vehicle market is still booming. In the first quarter of this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles exceeded one million units, an increase of more than 140% year-on-year, and the market share reached 19.3%.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, pointed out in his interpretation of the policy that at present, new energy vehicles are the core increase in consumption, which is in line with the development trend of China's household plural ownership and aging, and there will be huge space to support the accelerated development of new energy vehicles. At the same time, carrying out new energy vehicles going to the countryside and fully tapping the consumption potential of small cities and county and township markets is a better way of development and will play a very good effect.
The lifting of purchase restrictions is a common problem, the current mainland automobile market has moved from the "incremental era" to the "stock era", some analysts believe that one of the major crux of the overall downturn in the automobile market is that the first and second-tier cities limit the purchase, license, and traffic restrictions, which limit automobile consumption. Therefore, to revitalize China's auto market, lifting the ban is the last word.
Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, believes that the state can clearly not have any new purchase restriction cities, and at the same time relax and cancel the car purchase restriction policy according to local conditions, which will provide a certain support for the release of automobile consumption demand. However, she stressed that Beijing has special attributes and can refer to Shanghai's implementation of suburban license plates according to local conditions to release some car purchase demand.
Cui Dongshu also believes that Beijing, Shanghai and other cities have some room for relaxation, especially Beijing should relax the purchase restriction or temporarily increase the indicators of electric vehicles to stimulate the consumption of new cars, while promoting economic development.
In addition, it is worth noting that since the pilot lifting of the ban on pickup trucks in 2016, the state's measures to release pickup trucks into the city have for the first time risen from the ministry to the level of the State Council, which is also regarded as an important signal by the industry.
Relevant data show that in the past 5 years, more than 90 cities across the country have responded, and the regional market share of unlimited pickup trucks has also increased from 20% to 40%, and the pickup truck market has also ushered in new development. The China Automobile Association has issued a document pointing out that if the restrictions are relaxed on a larger scale, the pickup truck market will have millions of growth space, which will play a significant role in promoting automobile consumption.
The "Opinions" clearly promote the development of the pickup truck market, Cui Dongshu also believes that "the fine management of pickup truck vehicles and the relaxation of the restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city are conducive to the activity of the entire pickup truck culture and the promotion of the consumption life of rural residents, and there is a certain potential for the development of pickup truck tide consumer culture." ”
Overall, although under the influence of many uncertainties, challenges will still exist in the short term, the introduction of national policies to stimulate automobile consumption is bound to bring new momentum to the automotive industry. It is foreseeable that there will be no shortage of local government policies in the future, and what kind of effect will be brought to the industry after the policy is landed, and buying a car network Buycar will continue to pay attention.