AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/11 Report--

September is the season of agricultural harvest, according to the psychology of income and expenditure, consumption, investment and other expenses are driven by mood, especially in autumn, household consumption increases significantly. As a result, many car companies in the "gold nine silver ten" can also come up with a lot of higher than usual market performance. According to the Federation of passengers, the passenger car market retailed 1.922 million vehicles in September 2022, an increase of 21.5% over the same period last year.

Although the consumer environment has improved in the short term, not every car company will have a significant improvement. According to the "sales list of Japanese Joint Venture Brands from September to January to September 2022", which is concerned by the automobile industry, only three of the six Japanese joint venture brands whose sales have been disclosed have achieved growth, of which Guangzhou Auto Toyota has increased by 98.8% compared with the same period last year. FAW Toyota has not yet released specific sales, but according to the data released by the FIFA, sales increased by 88.0% in September compared with the same period last year. In addition, Dongfeng Nissan also achieved a slight increase, while mainstream Guangzhou Auto Honda and Dongfeng Honda both declined year-on-year, of which Dongfeng Honda fell by 32.9%. As for GAC-Mitsubishi and Changan Mazda, their sales have not exceeded 10,000. Although Changan Mazda plummeted 59.2% and GAC-Mitsubishi increased by 8.4%, the impact on the market share of Japanese brands is almost negligible.

The performance of Toyota's joint ventures in China is in line with the consumer demand of "Jinjiu", of which Guangzhou Auto Toyota and FAW Toyota increased by 98.7% and 88.0% respectively. From the product point of view, Toyota's sales in China mainly come from Camry, Leiling, Weilanda, Hanlanda, Carola, Asian Dragon, Rongfang, Sena, Fenglanda and other models. According to figures released by Guangzhou Auto Toyota, Sina sold 7824 vehicles in September, Hanlanda 8226, Camry 24185, Leiling 17228, Wiranda 12928 and Fenglanda 11258. As for FAW Toyota, specific model sales have not been announced yet.

On October 10, Guangzhou Auto Toyota bZ4X officially went on sale, with a price range of 19.98-287800 yuan. According to previous reports, the bZ4X is the first pure electric SUV strategically launched by Toyota Electric. The new car is handed over to FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota. The two models are sister models to each other. The new car is based on e-TNGA architecture, positioning medium-sized pure electric SUV, and will provide both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive power. In terms of competitors, bZ4X mainly aims at Volkswagen ID.4 CROZZ (18.73-287300 yuan) / ID.4 X (18.93-286300 yuan).

Sales of Honda's joint ventures in China, the mainstream Japanese joint venture brand, fell year-on-year, with Dongfeng Honda down 32.9 per cent to 43884 vehicles and Guangzhou Auto Honda down 4.2 per cent to 69040 vehicles. The reason for the decline in sales has not been officially explained, but it is expected to be related to the impact of the global semiconductor shortage, forcing some models to adjust production.

It is understood that during the year, Honda launched a number of brand-new models in China, including the new generation of XR-V, the new generation of CR-V, the brand new pure electric e:NS1/e:NP Jinpai 1, ZR-V and other models, and the new generation of Haoying, the new generation of colorful wisdom, HR-V and other models will be launched before the end of the year, which can be called the year of the product. However, judging from the above product layout, Honda is still in a state of "eating old money" in the domestic market, and the main source of sales is still relying on CR-V, XR-V, Civic, Accord and other "veterans", while the "new" e:NS1/e:NP extremely surging 1, ZR-V and other models have yet to form a trend. The retail sales of Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 from May to August in 2022 were 147,537,349,878, respectively, with a cumulative sales of 1911 vehicles, while GAC Honda e:NP sales from June to August in 2022 were 110,269,273, respectively, with a total sales of 652 vehicles.

Due to poor sales, e:NS1/e:NP reduced its price in a disguised form. In the Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 model page, the official launched the "order now, enjoy the gold sincere gift 10, 000 to 30, 000" activity, at the same time can also enjoy 50% down payment, 12 periods of 0 interest financial policy. In Guangzhou Auto Honda Mall, for the e:NP1 model, Guangzhou Automobile Honda launched a "go to the store to order, enjoy a deposit of 2, 000 to 22000" activity, but also can enjoy a number of benefits. The information shows that the discount period is up to October 31, 2022. At present, trading price for quantity is the only way to save the market as much as possible, but it is another thing to be effective.

Dongfeng Nissan rose 3.0 per cent in September from a year earlier to 81319 vehicles, according to the data. Specific models, Teana sales of 14447, Xuanyi series sales of 35926, Xiaoke sales of 13005. As for Qijun, Dongfeng Nissan has rarely released specific sales of the new generation of models since it launched.

On Sept. 27, Dongfeng Nissan's new pure electric model, Ariya, was officially launched. The new car is named "AiRuiya" in Chinese. It has launched a total of four models with a price range of 27.28-342800 yuan. In terms of power, the new car provides two-wheel drive version and four-wheel drive version, in which the two-wheel drive model is equipped with a single motor with the maximum power of 178kW, with a peak torque of 300N ·m; the four-wheel drive version is equipped with a dual motor with maximum power of 160kW, with a peak torque of 600N ·m. However, Dongfeng Nissan Ariya is also priced confidently.

As for Changan Mazda, although FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda merged into (new) Changan Mazda, it is of little practical significance. Both Atez and CX-4 have stopped production. Changan Mazda's models for sale include Mazda 3 Uncella, CX-5, CX-8 and CX-30, of which the main sales come from Onksera, which basically accounts for more than half of Changan Mazda's overall sales. According to the data, Changan Mazda sales fell 59.17 per cent in September from a year earlier to 7087 vehicles, and cumulative sales from January to September fell 9.76 per cent to 84060 vehicles. It is understood that Changan Mazda plans to introduce CX-50 and CX-90 two models, of which CX-90 is the largest CX series model launched by Mazda so far, but unfortunately, its powertrain will provide three kinds of HEV/PHEV/EV, excluding pure fuel vehicles.

GAC-Mitsubishi is Mitsubishi Motors' main joint venture in China, although it has not yet delisted, it has become a marginal brand, and most of its sales come from Euroland. Take August sales as an example, Outlander Retail 1781 vehicles, including Yige, Jinxuan, Artuco and other models sales are less than 100. However, GAC-Mitsubishi sales rose 8.4 per cent in September from a year earlier to 6079 vehicles, but cumulative sales in the first three quarters fell 39.87 per cent from a year earlier to 26809 vehicles.

In the context of the impact of the epidemic, rising raw material prices and chip shortages, many companies are suffering, and Honda is the first to bear the brunt, the market performance has been weak since 2022. Of course, it is not only Japanese brands. At present, Chinese brand passenger cars have shown a tendency to crush foreign brands. The market share of Japanese brands in China has fallen below 20%, while the market share of German brands is 20.2%.

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