Source: China Economic Net
At the just-concluded 2024 Beijing Auto Show, the booth of independent brands has become the "traffic C position". Behind the high popularity, the sales of independent brands continue to set new records. The China Automobile Association said that "half of the country can no longer contain the strength of Chinese brands". The "Five Tigers" are undoubtedly the key force to promote the continuous increase of the overall market share of Chinese brands. Among them, BYD is about to break through the one million mark, and Chery has maintained a rapid growth trend.
Dongfeng Independence, which is regarded as a "dark horse", has continued the rapid growth momentum since the beginning of the year. In contrast, the decline of SAIC Passenger Vehicle and GAC has not yet reversed. Among them, GAC's new energy segment, Aion, has seen a year-on-year decline in sales for three consecutive months.
The heads of various car companies interacted with each other in person to promote the popularity of the booth; The cool new products and technologies on display attracted foreign friends and media to visit the exhibition.
Behind the high popularity, the sales of independent brands are also constantly breaking records. According to the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in April, the sales of Chinese brand passenger cars were 1.272 million units, a year-on-year increase of 27.3%, accounting for 63.5% of the total passenger car sales, an increase of 8.4 percentage points over the same period last year, and the cumulative sales from January to April were 4.664 million units, a year-on-year increase of 26.7%, with a market share of 60.7%. The China Automobile Association said that "half of the country can no longer contain the strength of Chinese brands".
BYD, Changan, Chery, Geely and Great Wall, which are the leading enterprises of independent brands and known as the "Five Tigers", are undoubtedly the key forces to promote the continuous increase of the overall market share of independent brands.
According to the data, in April, the sales of BYD, Changan, Chery, Geely and Great Wall were 313245, 172623, 170733, 153267 and 94,796 respectively, an increase of 48.96%, 12.48%, 43.04%, 39% and 1.8% year-on-year respectively; The cumulative sales in the first four months were 939508, 761453, 672,410, 628987 and 370129, respectively, an increase of 23.24%, 13.32%, 57.95%, 47% and 18.18% year-on-year.
BYD is about to exceed one million vehicles, and Chery is "accelerating"
From the perspective of target progress, in the first four months of this year, BYD, Changan, Geely, and Great Wall have completed 25.92%, 34.55%, 33.1%, and 19.48% of the target tasks respectively.
Judging from the monthly sales ranking, the "Independent Five Tigers" maintained their previous seats; Judging from the cumulative sales, BYD is about to break through the one million mark, and has opened a large gap with its opponents.
From the perspective of sales growth, although the "independent five tigers" have all achieved positive growth, the growth rate has been greatly differentiated. Among them, Chery continued to maintain a rapid growth trend.
Dongfeng Independence, which is regarded as a "dark horse" by a reporter from China Economic Net, also continues the momentum of rapid growth. According to the data released by Dongfeng Group, from January to April, Dongfeng sold 849,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 24.7%; the sales volume of self-owned brand vehicles was 446,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 46.6%; the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 235,000, a year-on-year increase of 132%; Export vehicle sales totaled 71,000 units, reflecting an 8.2% y/y increase.
In contrast, the decline in sales of SAIC Passenger Vehicles and GAC has not yet reversed. According to the data, the sales of SAIC Passenger Vehicle and GAC Autonomous in April were 63,315 and 59,083 respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 7.24% and 15.89% respectively; The cumulative sales in the first four months were 225845 and 193434, respectively, down 14.68% and 16.68% year-on-year.
Geely Krypton landed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Aion "fell three times in a row"
In the field of new energy, BYD is leading the way. Changan, Geely, Chery and Great Wall have accelerated their catch-up through the layout of various power forms through their sub-brands.
According to the data, in April, the sales of new energy vehicles in Changan, Geely, Chery and Great Wall were 51,682, 51,428, 22,436 and 22,436 respectively, an increase of 129.74%, 74.97%, 165.2% and 50.94% year-on-year respectively; The cumulative sales in the first four months were 180488, 195553, 93,128 and 81,618 respectively, an increase of 68.63%, 120.44%, 137.3% and 91.27% year-on-year respectively.
It is worth mentioning that the IPO of ZEEKR ushered in the latest progress. On the evening of May 10, ZEEKR Intelligent Technology Holdings Co., Ltd. was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the stock code "ZK". Due to the oversubscription, ZEEKR expanded the size of the IPO, issuing a total of 21 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at a price of US$21 per share, each ADS corresponds to 10 ordinary shares, raising about US$441 million. After the opening, ZEEKR's stock price rose all the way, reaching as high as $29.36 and closing at $28.26.
As a luxury smart pure electric brand under Geely Holding Group, ZEEKR has set a new record for the fastest listing in the history of new energy vehicle companies, only 37 months from the brand launch on April 15, 2021 to the successful IPO. In 2023, ZEEKR will achieve an operating income of 51.7 billion yuan, and the gross profit margin of the whole vehicle will reach 15%. As of the end of April 2024, more than 240,000 vehicles have been delivered. From January to April this year, ZEEKR more than doubled its growth, a year-on-year increase of 111%.
In stark contrast to the strong growth momentum of its own brand of new energy vehicles, GAC Aion's sales have declined for three consecutive months. According to the data, in April, Aion's sales were 21,350 units, a year-on-year decrease of 47.94%; In the first four months, a total of 70,217 vehicles were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 41.16%.
BYD's exports broke 40,000 units first, and Chery continued to maintain the first place?
In terms of overseas business, BYD, Geely, Great Wall and Changan, known as the "top four", are currently advancing hand in hand, and BYD is the first to break through the 40,000 mark.
According to the data, in April, the overseas sales of BYD, Geely, Great Wall and Changan were 41,001, 38,151, 36,141 and 31,649 respectively, an increase of 176.53%, 75%, 65.68% and 92.65% year-on-year respectively; The cumulative sales in the first four months were 138,900, 125191, 128919, and 140,600 respectively, an increase of 159.38%, 69%, 74.71%, and 82.78% year-on-year respectively.
As the pioneers of automobiles "going overseas", Chery and SAIC both claim to be "leading". According to Chery's official information, "exports continue to remain the No. 1 Chinese automobile." From January to April, a total of 342795 vehicles were exported, reflecting a 34.2% y/y increase. ”
SAIC Motor said, "In April, SAIC's overseas sales reached 92,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%, and it continued to lead among Chinese auto companies." SAIC MG continued its strong performance in the European market, with sales exceeding 60,000 units from January to April. ”
Thanks to the collective acceleration of independent brands to "go overseas", "the current export growth rate of the mainland automobile market is greater than that of domestic sales," the China Automobile Association revealed, "From January to April, the cumulative export of automobiles reached 1.827 million units, a year-on-year increase of 33.4%; Passenger car exports totaled 1.539 million units, reflecting a 34.8% y/y increase. Commercial vehicle exports totaled 288,000 units, reflecting a 26.5% y/y increase. (China Economic Net reporter Wang Yueyue)