AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/13 Report--

According to the data, the cumulative sales of narrow passenger cars in China from January to March in 2023 were 4.262 million, down 13.4% from the same period last year, of which the cumulative sales of new energy models were 1.313 million, up 22.4% from the same period last year. Subdivided into major vehicle areas, the cumulative sales of car models from January to March were 2.019 million, down 14.8% from the same period last year, accounting for 47.32% of all passenger car sales, accounting for 2 million, down 13.6% from the same period last year, accounting for 46.93%. The cumulative sales of MPV, which is relatively small, was 243000, up 1.3% from the same period last year, accounting for 5.70%.

According to the SUVTop15 sales list from January to March 2023, only BYD Song, Tesla ModelY, BYD Yuan PLUS, BYD Tang and Ian Aion Y5 models on the list have achieved year-on-year growth, while the rest have declined to varying degrees.

In the list, the top three models all achieved year-on-year growth, of which BYD Song became the top SUV seller in March 2023 with sales of 141400 vehicles, followed by Tesla Model Y, with cumulative sales of 94600 vehicles, and BYD Yuan PLUS increased 278.2% to 62500 vehicles compared with the same period last year, making it the car company with the highest increase among the first three models.

In contrast to the growth of the top three models, Honda CR-V, a Chinese-Japanese brand, and Mercedes-Benz, a luxury brand, fell more than 40 per cent year-on-year. CR-V is a heavyweight model of Dongfeng Honda, which has undergone six upgrades so far, mainly competing with Toyota RAV4 Rongfang, Nissan Qijun and other models. The Honda CR-V, a sixth-generation model currently on sale, will go on sale on September 28th, 2022, with a price range of 16.98-276800 yuan. As a classic SUV model of Honda, it has attracted a lot of attention since it entered the domestic market, and once became a "top student" of the domestic compact SUV. New car traffic insurance data show that cumulative sales of CR-V models in 2022 were 210100, an increase of 112.48 per cent over the same period last year. The cumulative sales of CR-V models in the first three months of 2023 were 33300, down 40.8 percent from the same period last year. As for the reasons for the decline, in addition to the sharp increase in competitive pressure in the domestic car market, it is also related to the lack of production capacity of Honda's renovated models. Honda's cumulative sales of terminal vehicles in China from January to March were 22.04, down 37.7 percent from the same period last year.

In addition to Dongfeng Honda, FAW-Toyota's RAV4 compact SUV model also appeared on the list, but it also showed a downward trend, falling 29.6% to 27400 vehicles in the previous month compared with the same period last year. But this is to be expected. According to the list of Japanese manufacturers' sales in the first three months of 2023, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda all showed a year-on-year decline. Mazda had the highest decline, falling 66.11% in the first three months of 2023.

In the BBA sector, there are only two models on the list this quarter: the Mercedes-Benz GLC and the BMW X3. Mercedes-Benz GLC is the best-selling model in the Mercedes-Benz product lineup. According to data, Mercedes-Benz sold 751700 vehicles in 2022, of which Mercedes-Benz GLC retail sales were 148800, accounting for about 19.80% of the total sales. Currently on sale model price is 406300-473900 yuan, at the end of March, the new generation of GLC long-axle version of the official pre-sale, pre-sale price range of 43-530000 yuan, the new car appearance is only optimized for details, and continue to lengthen the body size, the biggest change is the use of the same Mercedes-Benz C-class central control screen, and the first launch of the 7-seat version.

In the first three months of this year, Mercedes-Benz GLC sales totaled 26600 vehicles, down 41.0% from a year earlier, ranking last on the list, while in the luxury car market, Mercedes-Benz GLCs directly compete with BMW X3 and Audi Q5L models. By contrast, cumulative sales of the BMW X3 were 34800, down just 12.1 per cent from a year earlier.

Changan Automobile ranked fourth, with two compact SUV models on the list, the Changan CS75 and CS55, respectively, with cumulative sales of 51800 and 32400 respectively in the first three months, down 22.9% and 37.7% respectively from the same period last year. In addition, the multi-year top seller "Harvard H6" also experienced a significant decline, with sales falling 32.8% in the first three months from a year earlier to 48000 vehicles. By contrast, the latest figures from New car Traffic Insurance show that the Harvard brand of Great Wall Motor fell 32.65% to 496800 vehicles in 2022 compared with the same period last year, of which Harvard H6 sales were 242500, accounting for 48.79% of the total sales.

Judging from the overall list, the SUV field is still the leader of independent brands in this quarter, and the performance of independent SUV is significantly better than that of joint venture models, including BYD, Tesla China, Changan Automobile, GAC Ean and Geely's main SUV models, while only Dongfeng Honda CR-V and FAW Toyota RAV4 are on the list, while German brands are also in an awkward position. With the exception of Mercedes-Benz GLC and BMW X3, which focus on the luxury market, none of the other models are on the list.

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