AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/30 Report--

Affected by the spread of the epidemic and parts supply shortages, a number of car companies were forced to stop production or cut production, resulting in the stagnation of auto parts production in April and a severe impact on the car market as a whole, of which the luxury car market was one of the hardest-hit market segments. From January to April 2022, the top three luxury cars in cumulative sales were the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Series and BMW 3-Series, with retail sales of 57813, 51585 and 50852 respectively, down to varying degrees compared with the same period last year, according to the Federation of passengers. Of these, retail sales in the luxury car market were only 120000 in April, down 54% from a year earlier and 50% from a month earlier, halving overall sales.

According to the insurance figures, the cumulative sales of mainstream luxury cars in April were 173500, down 50.2% from a year earlier and 11.4 percentage points higher than the overall decline of 38.8% for passenger cars. Specific analysis, from the performance of first-tier luxury brands, BBA sales showed a sharp decline, of which Audi fell the largest, Audi insurance volume fell 62.5% to 26700 vehicles, Mercedes-Benz insurance volume dropped 42.5% to 44500 vehicles; BMW insurance volume dropped 49.2% to 37000 vehicles. Second-tier luxury brands such as Lexus, Cadillac and Volvo also saw a year-on-year drop of about 50% in April.

The automobile industry is concerned that the decline in BBA sales is mainly due to the previous outbreak of sporadic epidemics, semiconductor supply shortages and poor logistics. Since March, vehicle production and sales in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the automobile industry have been greatly impacted, facing shutdown or production reduction pressure in many places, among which the production base of FAW-Volkswagen Audi in Changchun and brilliance BMW's Dadong plant in Shenyang have all stopped production before, and the end market delivery is under pressure due to production stoppage and logistics interruption. Audi, for example, failed to sell more than 10,000 models in April, including 6258 A4L and 5100 Q5L. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Federation of passengers, pointed out that the decline in luxury car sales is also related to the fact that luxury car owners' sales areas have been affected by changes in the situation of vehicle epidemic prevention and control, resulting in huge losses in production and marketing, and the original balance between supply and demand has been broken again.

In addition, under the environment of rising raw material prices and chip shortage in the automotive industry, a number of luxury brands have also announced price increases so far this year. In the BBA camp, Mercedes-Benz was the first to announce a price increase after Mercedes-Benz issued a notice to dealers. Beijing Mercedes-Benz sales and Service Co., Ltd. has raised the recommended retail prices of some models on sale since April 2, 2022, with a maximum increase of 121000 yuan. The models involved include imported C-class, E-class, CLA, S-class, GLS, G-class and some Maybach and AMG models, while domestic models involve E-class long-axis version and GLC long-axis version, almost covering the products sold by Mercedes-Benz. On April 12, BMW announced an increase in the prices of some of its models, ranging from 1600 yuan to 11000 yuan, involving five models, including BMW 3-Series, X3, X4 and 4-Series. According to a notice sent by BMW to dealers on May 15, due to the current global epidemic situation and rising raw material costs, the new suggested retail prices for some models will take effect from June 1, 2022. Among them, the highest increase for vehicles is 10100 yuan, and the lowest is 1000 yuan.

However, the price adjustment by manufacturers has not been reflected in the terminal market, and the current luxury car market is still in the doldrums in May. According to China Business report, a salesperson at a Lexus 4S store said that in early May, although passenger traffic was affected by the epidemic, the supply of new cars was also tight. Because of capacity constraints, it used to sell 200 cars a month. Now it can only sell about 90 cars a month. The sales manager of a BMW 4S store in Beijing said: "We have to offer more discounts now, more than during the May Day holiday, because we have to complete the sales task." However, very few people watched the car in the middle and second half of this month, and the impact of the epidemic is still very great. " Now a number of models have existing cars, the previous model only has two or three existing cars, now the BMW 5-Series has more than a dozen existing cars.

China Finance and Economics pointed out in the report that the current discount for the BMW 5-Series is about 60, 000 yuan, while the information from Auto House shows that the highest discount for Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class models is about 100000 yuan. Audi A4L offers a discount of about 80, 000 yuan, while Audi Q5L gives a discount of about 90, 000 yuan.

In the environment of the epidemic and supply chain disruptions, the supply and market demand of new cars are low, and dealers are facing greater pressure. according to the survey data of the China Automobile Circulation Association, from January to April this year, nearly 1400 4S stores in China withdrew from the network. on average, about 11 4S stores are closed every day. Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary general of the China Automobile Circulation Association, said that with the arrival of June, general dealers are facing mid-year assessment. Further promotional measures may be taken to facilitate the completion of the order.

In addition, according to incomplete statistics, since the end of April, many places across the country have issued new policies to promote automobile consumption, including Shandong Province, Guangdong Province, Hubei Province, Jiangxi Province and so on. Wu Wei, assistant professor of the China Energy Policy Research Institute, pointed out that in recent years, due to the impact of the epidemic, supply disruptions, and purchase restrictions in some cities, the growth of car sales has stagnated. Recently, some cities have adopted stimulus policies such as increasing car targets and providing car purchase subsidies, which are of positive significance to boost the market. It is expected that the automobile market will resume growth in the second half of the year. Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National passenger car Market Information Association, also said that local policies to encourage automobile consumption are more direct, can better release consumer consumption potential, and can boost sales in the short term.

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