AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/08 Report--

On May 6th, the Federation of passengers released the latest data showing that in the first four weeks of April, the domestic passenger car market sold an average of 35300 vehicles a day, down 1.6% from the same period last year. However, the growth rate has improved significantly compared with the 42% year-on-year decline in the previous four weeks of March. The rebound in the market in April shows that retail sales in the car market have improved steadily under the influence of the epidemic.

At present, according to the sales data released by Changan Automobile, Geely Automobile, SAIC Group, GAC GROUP and other car companies, there are varying degrees of growth. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Federation of passengers, said that the main reason for the V-shaped reversal of the car market in April was the rapid recovery of production and marketing, the increase in enterprise output and the further improvement of the supply side.

On May 5, Changan Automobile was the first to release April production and sales data, showing that Changan Automobile sold a total of 159600 vehicles in April, an increase of 32% over the same period last year. Changan car sales from January to April were 462600, still down 18.45 per cent. Both Changan independent and joint ventures achieved year-on-year growth, with sales of the three independent companies rising 73.55 per cent to 73500 vehicles, Changan Ford up 38.31 per cent to 20500 vehicles and Changan Mazda up 36.80 per cent to 11800 vehicles in April.

After months of decline, Geely finally returned to positive growth in April. Geely's April sales rose 2 per cent to 105500, with the Lecker brand up about 12 per cent year-on-year. Geely sold 311500 vehicles in the first four months, reaching 22% of its annual sales target of 1.41 million.

SAIC announced April sales of KuaiBao, which sold 417600 vehicles in April, down 8.60% from 456800 in the same period last year. Although there is still a decline of nearly 50% in April, the Wuling brand of SAIC has returned to growth in April, and other brands are expected to return to normal next month.

SAIC GM Wuling sales rose 13.53 per cent to 120000 vehicles in April and fell 46.69 per cent to 285000 vehicles in the previous April, largely due to SAIC GM Wuling subsidizing consumers out of its own pocket. At the end of February this year, SAIC GM Wuling put forward 1 billion yuan of subsidy funds to subsidize individual car purchases, with a maximum subsidy of 11000 yuan.

GAC GROUP today released production and sales of KuaiBao in April. GAC GROUP's sales rose 6.1 per cent to 166200 in April, while cumulative sales fell 27.49 per cent to 472300 from January to April, according to data. Among GAC GROUP's brands, Guangzhou Auto Toyota and Guangzhou Auto Honda have shown growth, with Guangzhou Auto Honda's April sales up 0.53% to 71700 vehicles and Guangzhou Auto Toyota's sales up 46.90% to 63600 vehicles. In addition, GAC MOTOR, Guangzhou Auto Fick and Guangzhou Auto Mitsubishi all showed a decline, with April sales of 22271 vehicles (- 17.00%), 3509 vehicles (- 28.64%) and 5000 vehicles (- 50.03%) respectively.

Among the car companies that reported April sales, the FAW Red Flag brand of FAW Group increased the most. FAW Hongqi sales rose 168 per cent to 14500 vehicles in April from a year earlier, according to official figures. It is understood that FAW Red Flag sales target of 200000 vehicles in 2020, the first four months of cumulative sales of 39500 vehicles, the target completion rate of about 20%. In addition, FAW Toyota, a joint venture brand of FAW, rose 9 per cent to 72000 vehicles in April, while FAW Mazda sales rose 10.8 per cent to 7071 vehicles.

Sales of luxury brands also picked up quickly in April. Volvo's April sales hit an all-time high, growing 20.8 per cent to 15000 vehicles in China, the only region under the brand to grow, while Lexus sales in China rose 6 per cent to 23000 vehicles in April. Cadillac also rose 14.4 per cent to 16273.

The new power of car building is also growing. According to data released on the 6th, NIO delivered a total of 3155 vehicles in April 2020, an increase of 180.7% over the same period last year, including 2907 ES6 and 248 ES8. In addition, ideal cars delivered more than 2600 vehicles in April, up 79.68 per cent from the previous month.

Of course, there were also some car companies that did not perform strongly in April. BYD's monthly sales of "new energy leader" fell 15.9 per cent to 31809 vehicles, and cumulative sales fell 40.1 per cent to 93082 vehicles in the previous month. Specifically, new energy vehicles fell 45.9 per cent to 12995 in April, while fuel vehicles rose 36.1 per cent to 18814 in April. Great Wall, another autonomous car company, did not recover to the level of the same period last year, with sales falling 3.59 per cent to 80800 in April and 37.13 per cent to 231200 in the previous month, according to data.

The return of auto brand sales growth in April is inseparable from policy support. In mid-February, when the epidemic was still serious in China, the government called on relevant departments to introduce relevant policies to stimulate cars and encourage appropriate areas to liberalize car license plate quotas. On March 31, the State Council introduced three more policies to promote automobile consumption, including extending subsidies for new energy vehicles and exempting purchase tax.

On April 29, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 11 ministries and commissions jointly issued a circular, requiring all localities and relevant departments to adjust the implementation of the "National VI" emission standards, improve the fiscal and tax support policies related to the purchase of new energy vehicles, speed up the phase-out of obsolete diesel trucks, smooth the circulation and trading of used cars, and make good use of automobile consumption finance, and other five tasks, in order to create a market environment conducive to automobile consumption.

The introduction of various policies to stimulate the automobile market and the increase in consumer demand for cars after the epidemic helped the sales growth of many car companies in April and paved the way for sustained sales growth in May. Cui Dongshu said that the policies to stimulate consumption in some areas are more timely, and the continuous release of rigid car demand will bring good promotion and support to the car market in the second quarter.

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