AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/12 Report--

In January 2023, sales of some models declined significantly due to the impact of traditional Spring Festival holidays and early overdrafts of consumer demand. According to the list of medium-sized sedan sales in January 2023, according to Automotive Industry concern, more than 10,000 models were sold in January 2023, namely Accord, Camry, Model 3 and Maiteng. In terms of model brands, there are two Japanese models, one American brand, three German brands and four Chinese brands in the top 10 of the list, which also means that domestic models are beginning to impact the status of joint venture cars.

In January, Honda Accord led Toyota Camry to become the top seller of medium-sized cars with sales of 14595 vehicles. Toyota Camry ranked second with sales of 14396 vehicles, and the competition between the two was fierce. Surprisingly, Nissan Teana's sales were very dismal, with only 4501 vehicles sold in January, falling out of the top 15.

As a cost-effective family car, Accord (price range 16.98-259800 yuan), Camry (price range 17.98-269800 yuan) and Teana (price range 17.98-269800 yuan) are often discussed and compared by consumers, also known as "Japanese three Musketeers". However, Teana has fallen significantly in recent years, and even the mid-term modified models have failed to reverse the backward situation. At present, both Camry and Accord are on the market in the mid-term in 2021, while Teana's modified products are not available until September 2022, which is why Teana's sales lag behind Accord and Camry. According to the latest data of new car compulsory insurance, the sales of Camry, Accord and Teana are 250800, 223200 and 147300 respectively in 2022.

The third person on the list is Tesla China Model 3, which sold 12659 vehicles in January. Auto Industry concern believes that the reason why Model 3 is in the top three has something to do with its lower price. On January 6th, Tesla cut prices on a large scale in China, in which Model Y dropped by 2.9-48000 yuan, an unprecedented drop. Of course, this "price for volume" product strategy also led to a rapid increase in sales of Model 3. According to the wholesale sales data of the Federation, Tesla's wholesale sales in China in January were 66051 vehicles, second only to BYD, achieving month-on-month and year-on-year growth, of which it increased by 118.4% from the previous month and 10.3% from the same period last year.

Volkswagen Maiteng and Passat, the German duo in the list, sold 10221 and 9861 vehicles in January, respectively, neck and neck, and the January sales were OK. It should be noted that the Passat won Class B sales in 2016 and 2019 respectively, while Maiteng won Class B sales in 2017 and 2018, with annual sales of more than 200000 vehicles respectively. Now in the "Japanese three Musketeers" and other models of mutual competition and the continued popularity of new energy vehicles, Maiteng and Passat's market share is gradually being diluted.

In the BBA luxury brand camp, BMW's market sales performance has been better than Mercedes-Benz and Audi, subdivided into the medium-sized car sector, BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4L models are all in the top 15, of which BMW 3-Series sales are 7759, ahead of Mercedes-Benz C-Class 5574 and Audi A4L 4943.

Among the top 10 on the list, Chinese brands also had good sales performance, with Red Flag E-QM5, Seal, Deep Blue SL03 and Xilai ET5 ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th with 6703, 6618, 6137 and 5795 respectively. Among them, Seal is a newly listed model in BYD's ocean series, which went on sale on July 29 as a medium-sized pure electric sedan with a subsidised price range of 21.28 yuan to 289800 yuan.

Deep Blue SL03, the first new energy car under the Changan Deep Blue brand, went on sale on July 25, similar to that of BYD Seal. Dark Blue SL03, based on Changan's new EPA1 pure electric platform, has launched four models with a price range of 16.89 to 699900 yuan, which needs to compete with Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal. Retail data from the Federation show that 25400 dark blue SL03 vehicles were sold in 2022, compared with 51200 seals and 124400 Tesla Model 3 vehicles.

In addition, the ET5 is also a new model delivered in September 2022. It is the second car and currently the cheapest model under the company, with a price range of 32.8-386000 yuan. As the cheapest model, when the price of the new car was announced, the APP was paralyzed for as long as 10 minutes, which shows the hot degree of the market. Li Bin, CEO of Xilai, admitted in an interview that the ET5 was the largest order-ordered car in the same period in the history of the company. At the 2022 Chengdu Auto Show, Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Xilai Automobile, also said in a high profile: "in the past year, the average monthly sales of the BMW 3-Series is more than 12000 vehicles. With the delivery of the ET5, the ET5 will sell more than the 3-Series within a year." Before that, it was said bluntly that the competitive product of the ET5 is the BMW 3-Series, and the intention of the car is to enter the mainstream intermediate car market, to divide the share of the existing mainstream high-end brands and the leading smart electric vehicle brands in this market, and to turn the pattern of BBA into the pattern of NBA. Of course, the odds of the ET5 surpassing the BMW 3-Series within a year are not particularly great. "Automotive Industry concern" believes that the BMW 3-Series is a luxury medium-sized car pole product, and its monthly sales are very stable. ET5, as a latecomer, has a lot of pressure to challenge the BMW 3-Series.

In addition to the above models, Asian Dragons, BMW i3, Esquire and Mondeo are all in the top 20, of which Mondeo sales have gradually improved since the launch of the new generation Mondeo. The new generation Mondeo launched on April 13, 2022, a total of four models with a price range of 15.98-216800 yuan, powered by 2.0T turbocharged engine, maximum power 175kw, matching eight-speed manual self-integrated gearbox. According to the data, the cumulative sales in 2022 was 58449, ranking 15th in the list of medium-sized cars.

Generally speaking, although the car market as a whole was hit by holidays and early overdraft of consumer demand in January, and the sales of some models declined, Japanese brands Accord and Camry still took the lead with affordable concessions in the medium-sized car camp, while a number of Chinese brand models are also on the rise, and the subsequent competition between domestic models and joint ventures will be more fierce.

According to data from the Federation of passengers, retail sales of narrow passenger cars in China in January 2023 were 1.293 million, down 37.9% from the same period last year and 40.4% from the previous year, with the lowest growth rate in the past year and month-on-month, but February is the real start-up period of the car market after the Spring Festival. At the same time, it is also the market start-up period after the end of three years of the epidemic, and the car market is expected to pick up significantly.

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