AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/30 Report--

The epidemic has made the car companies in the "cold winter" of the car market worse. In this context, SAIC, the leader of Chinese car companies, is also inevitably affected, with a large decline in operating income and profits.

On April 29, SAIC released its first-quarter results for 2020. According to the report, SAIC's operating income in the first quarter was 105.947 billion yuan, down 47.08% from the same period last year, while the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 1.121 billion yuan, down 86.42% from the same period last year.

As for the reasons for the performance changes in the first half of 2020, SAIC said that the development trend of the COVID-19 epidemic is the most important risk factor affecting the direction of the car market this year. At present, the situation of prevention and control of the epidemic situation of COVID-19 in China continues to improve, and the company will actively give full play to its competitive advantage and seize market opportunities; however, considering that the epidemic is still spreading overseas, the impact of the epidemic on the domestic economy and automobile market remains to be further observed.

Although the domestic situation is improving at present, China's auto market will inevitably be "badly hit" in the next quarter due to the interference of the epidemic. SAIC sold 679028 vehicles in the first quarter, down 55.71 per cent from 1533005 last year, according to the data.

Among the independent sectors, car sales in the first quarter of 2020 were 99000, down 33.74 per cent from the same period last year, while SAIC Chase sold 23000 vehicles, down 21.86 per cent from the same period last year. Although independent brands are in a state of decline, they still outperform the market as a whole. China's car sales fell 42.4% in the first quarter of 2020, of which Chinese brand passenger car sales fell 47.3%, according to the Federation of passengers.

In the joint venture sector, SAIC Volkswagen sold 183000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2020, down 60.89% from the same period last year; SAIC GM sold 179000 vehicles, down 58.03% from the same period last year; and SAIC GM Wuling sold 165000 vehicles, down 61.53% from the same period last year. Although the sales of the joint venture brand were greatly affected in the first quarter, it is still an important part of SAIC's quarterly sales of 679000 vehicles.

More noteworthy is the fact that SAIC's sales of new energy vehicles and overseas sales remain strong amid the sharp decline in the global car market brought about by the epidemic. Data show that SAIC achieved vehicle exports and overseas sales of 66800 vehicles from January to March, a 5.4 per cent year-on-year increase against the trend. Among them, the overseas retail sales of the Mingjue brand of SAIC Group reached 37000 vehicles, a sharp increase of 113% compared with the same period last year.

Disrupted by the epidemic, China's passenger car market suffered a significant setback in the first quarter, and SAIC's poor sales performance in the first quarter also led to a sharp drop in revenue and profits. However, compared with the overall stagnation in February, both SAIC and other auto companies showed a significant recovery in March, and the recovery is expected to accelerate further in the second quarter, and the sales of joint venture brands will also continue to grow in this context.

The epidemic has brought no small impact to SAIC. With the improvement of the epidemic situation in China, the rhythm of SAIC is gradually returning to normal, coupled with the policies launched by local governments to support the recovery of the automobile industry, and then there will be a real showdown between auto companies.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat