AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/08 Report--

According to data released by the Federation of passengers on March 8, retail sales in the passenger car market in February 2024 were 1.095 million, down 21.0% from a year earlier and 46.2% from a month earlier, while cumulative retail sales from January to February in 2024 were 3.133 million, an increase of 17.0% over the same period last year.

Sales fell by double digits in February compared with the same period last year and month-on-month, mainly due to the impact of the Spring Festival. The Federation explained: "the automobile market retail basically achieved the expected good start in January 2024, and the month-on-month and year-on-year sharp decline in February was an important reason for the difference in pre-holiday consumption time brought about by the Spring Festival. There was an overdraft of some sales in January, affecting sales before the Spring Festival in February, and the price war after the Spring Festival heated up rapidly, forming a larger wait-and-see trend, combined with the expected introduction of policy rules in March, which constituted a trend that was not conducive to sales in February. "

According to the ranking of retail sales, the top 10 car companies in February were BYD, Geely, Changan, FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC-Volkswagen, Chery, SAIC-GM Wuling, Guangzhou Auto Toyota, brilliance BMW and Dongfeng Nissan. Judging from the overall list, of the ten car companies on the list in February, only Chery achieved year-on-year growth, while the other nine car companies all showed a year-on-year decline to varying degrees, of which Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, which had the highest decline, fell 35.4% from the same period last year.

In February, Chery sold 57000 cars, up 45.9% from a year earlier, ranking sixth on the list. It is worth mentioning that Chery ranked top in wholesale sales, up 42.7 per cent year-on-year to 138000, ahead of BYD's 122000.

As the only fully electric brand, BYD retail sales of 119000 cars in February, but down 32.8% from a year earlier. The year-on-year decline in sales is mainly related not only to the traditional Spring Festival, but also to the intensification of competition in the new energy vehicle market. In this context, BYD has won the attention of consumers by launching more new cars at a lower price.

Since February 19th, BYD has launched a number of "Honor Edition" models, including Qin PLUS Honor Edition, Destroyer 05 Glory Edition, Dolphin Glory Edition, Han Family Glory Edition, Tang DM-i Glory Edition, Yuan PLUS Honor Edition, Seagull Glory Edition and other models, covering A0 to C-Class cars and various SUV models. The arrival of more "honorable" models also means that BYD has pushed the price down to less than 100000.

The market believes that under the background of the slowdown in the overall new energy vehicle market, BYD needs to seize the market share of fuel vehicles in the market below 200000 yuan, and the "honorable version" model adopts the strategy of reducing price and increasing allocation, or it can further compress the price space of the A0 market. On the other hand, the market of more than 200000 yuan strives for a sales breakthrough and seeks overseas business increments to support sales growth.

In addition to Chery and BYD, among independent brands, Geely and Changan entered the top three, ranking second and third respectively, with sales of 87000 vehicles each in February, but down 3.7 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively from a year earlier. SAIC GM Wuling retail sales of 46000 vehicles, down 20.4% year-on-year, ranking seventh.

Among the joint venture brands, German brands FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen ranked fourth and fifth respectively, with FAW-Volkswagen down 23.4% to 85000 vehicles and SAIC-Volkswagen down 14.3% to 63000 vehicles.

In addition, after not being on the list for a long time in January, brilliance BMW continued to be in the top 10 in February, with sales of 40000 vehicles in February, down 19.8% from a year earlier, ranking ninth on the list, up from January (10th).

In the camp of Japanese car companies, two Japanese manufacturers, Guangzhou Auto Toyota and Dongfeng Nissan, entered the top 10 in February, ranking eighth and 10th respectively. Among them, Guangzhou Auto Toyota fell 35.4% year-on-year to 43000 vehicles; Dongfeng Nissan dropped 31.4% year-on-year to 39000 vehicles, while FAW Toyota, Guangzhou Automobile Honda and Dongfeng Honda all missed the top 10. Honda's terminal car sales in China fell 38.63 per cent year-on-year to 45498 in February, according to official Honda Chinese data. Among them, Guangzhou Auto Honda was 24162, down 32.56% from the same period last year; Dongfeng Honda was 21336, down 44.31% from the same period last year.

If Japanese brands want to stay in the Chinese market, they must make a difference in the electric car market. Now a number of Chinese car companies, including BYD, have begun to encroach on the joint venture market. It may be only a matter of time before Japanese manufacturers who rely on fuel vehicles to drive sales do not make substantial innovation. In other words, time has become particularly valuable for Japanese brands.

The above is the list of the top 10 domestic automakers. Overall, although most manufacturers declined in February, the market share of independent brands is still relatively stable. The top three car companies on the list are all from independent brands, accounting for 26.6% of the total.

Self-brand retail sales were 620000 vehicles in February, down 13 per cent from a year earlier and 45 per cent month-on-month, with a market share of 56.1 per cent, up 4.9 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Federation. With the increase in the market share of domestic car companies such as BYD, Geely, Changan and Chery, the market share of independent brands has further expanded. As of the end of February, the cumulative share of independent brands in the first two months of this year was 55%, an increase of 5.2% over the same period last year.

Retail sales of mainstream joint venture brands were 330000 vehicles in February, down 31 per cent from a year earlier and 51 per cent from a month earlier. Among them, the retail share of German brands was 20.5%, down 0.2% from the same period last year; the retail share of Japanese brands was 14.4%, down 3.4% from the same period last year; and the retail share of American brands was 6.4%, down 0.9% from the same period last year.

From the perspective of the car companies on the list, with the exception of Chery, all the 10 car companies on the list in February showed a year-on-year decline in sales to varying degrees. One of the main reasons for the decline in sales is that February is a traditional Spring Festival holiday. Affected by the Spring Festival holiday, sales generally decline. With regard to the sales forecast for March, the HKIFA said that due to the rapid transition to normal operation of various industries after the Spring Festival holiday, the month-on-month production and sales growth in March will be relatively rapid.

The competition between independent brands and joint venture brands, new energy vehicles and traditional fuel workshops confirms that China's automobile industry is undergoing reshaping and innovation, and the market competition in the automobile industry is particularly fierce. The Federation pointed out that this year is a key year for new energy vehicle companies to gain a firm foothold, coupled with the continuation of the price war in the domestic passenger car market, the competition is destined to be very fierce.

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