Recently, China Automotive Digital Research Institute released the automobile sales data of various countries around the world in the first quarter of this year, and China, the United States and Europe are still the world's top three automobile consumer markets. The sales volume of the Chinese automobile market was 6.72 million units, a year-on-year increase of 10.6%, the sales volume of the American market was 3.37 million units, a year-on-year increase of 5.1%, and the sales volume of Western Europe was about 3.08 million units.
According to the data, the demand for automobiles in Japan and South Korea is shrinking, and both countries saw double-digit sales declines in the first quarter, with Korean local brands declining sharply and imported cars achieving a 6% increase. The situation is even worse in Southeast Asia, where Indonesia and Vietnam, the region's two largest car markets, saw sales fall by 23.8 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively. The Australian auto market is in a steady growth, and many domestic car companies have begun to enter the Australian market this year.
New Zealand has a population of more than 5 million and monthly sales of less than 8,000, with quarterly sales of just over 20,000. Changzhou, which also has a permanent population of more than 5 million on the mainland, sold 11,900 units in March and 32,400 units in the first quarter. I don't understand why the New Zealand market has shrunk like this.
The automotive market in the Americas is relatively stable, and all countries are in a reasonable growth range. Argentina is the only exception, but a 30% drop is justified given the economic woes it faces. The sales of Chinese brands are mainly in South America, with Brazil and Mexico being key countries, with Chery having the largest sales volume and occupying the largest market share in Chile.
By the way, the brand with the highest sales in Canada is General Motors.
Western European countries generally saw a decline in sales in March, and the first quarter was mixed. Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy each occupy the top three positions in the market, while France falls to fourth. French brands Peugeot and Citroen saw significant declines, with the two brands falling by 12.93% and 17.73% respectively in the first quarter. Among German car brands, Mercedes-Benz and Audi saw a bigger decline in sales, down 22.8% and 37.9% respectively, and it seems that the market for luxury cars in Europe is not optimistic in the context of the economic downturn.
The top two sales growth rates in Central and Eastern Europe are Russia and Ukraine, which is understandable, after all, last year's base was low. Russia has recorded a year-on-year growth of 93%, this market growth is really puzzling, why the more wars are fought, the richer they become?
Chinese brands account for most of Russia's mid-to-high-end car market, and sales figures in the first quarter were also positive, with Haval in second place with 125% growth in the first quarter, and Chery and Geely in third and fourth place with 74% and 129% growth, respectively.