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

China's car sales continue to decline, the overall environment is depressed, many car companies are in a bitter battle, car companies not only have to face the pressure brought by the downward trend, but also the market competition is further intensified. The latest figures show that passenger car sales in China plunged 19% in February.

The Federation of passengers announced that sales in the domestic passenger car market in February were 1.169 million, down 19.0% from the same period last year, while those in the domestic passenger car market were down 45.9% from January to February, down 9.8% from the same period last year, with a trend of further expansion.

In terms of classification, cars fell 15.5 per cent to 576000 in February from a year earlier, SUV fell 0.6 per cent to 504000, MPV fell 29.6 per cent, and the car and MPV markets were sluggish.

Car sales ranking, only from the top ten car companies, almost fell across the board, only Great Wall Motor against the market growth, only 4 of the top 15 car companies achieved positive growth. It is worth noting that the luxury car market continues to have high sales, with brilliance BMW and Beijing Mercedes-Benz both rising to the top 15.

Volkswagen dominated the Chinese car market for many years, and North and South Volkswagen remained strong in February, the two companies that exceeded 100000 vehicles that month. FAW-Volkswagen won the top spot with retail sales of 114700 vehicles, down 5.7 per cent from a year earlier. SAIC-Volkswagen nearly 110000 vehicles, down 9.4 per cent from a year earlier. Only two joint ventures of Volkswagen account for more than 19% of China's auto market.

The brands sold by the two companies are Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi. In the future, FAW-Volkswagen will launch the low-cost car brand Jetta, and SAIC-Volkswagen will also introduce Audi for domestic production, so both car companies will have luxury, mainstream and low-cost car brands to sell at the same time. Volkswagen has stated that it regards China as the core of the group's future, and the group CEO Dis will lead the Chinese business to further expand the Chinese market.

SAIC GM ranked third in February sales of 84000 vehicles, down 25% from a year earlier, widening the gap with Volkswagen. SAIC GM's Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands, weak sales reflect the overall market environment, but also related to GM's aggressive attitude towards popularizing three-cylinder engines.

SAIC GM Wuling, Geely Motor and SAIC GM were the three biggest declines on the list, with sales falling by more than 1%. Among them, SAIC GM Wuling fell by 43.7%, and continued reading declined seriously for many months, which is related to the gradual shrinkage of the MPV market. At present, Baojun Motor is gradually moving closer to the SUV and mainstream markets.

Geely is a bright spot for independent brands in recent years, successfully surpassing many joint venture brands in sales, but Geely has declined this year. Geely passenger cars fell 28.3 per cent to 78700 in February from a year earlier, with a 12.8 per cent drop from January to February. Geely said that due to the early Chinese New year holiday this year, more working days in February were affected by the off-season after the Lunar New year.

The independent brand Great Wall Motor has achieved counter-market growth, ranking the only one in the top ten with year-on-year growth. In February, Great Wall sold 56735 cars, up 15.2% from the same period last year, ranking seventh among passenger car companies. Harvard H6 and Harvard F series have a large sales base, which is also related to the increased discount of the Great Wall.

In addition, independent brands Changan Automobile and SAIC passenger cars also fell by double digits, by 16.5% and 18.4% respectively. According to the analysis of the Federation, independent brands have fallen sharply recently, which means that the market share is declining.

Beijing Hyundai's performance was mediocre in February, rising 29% from January to February compared with the same period last year, with sales reaching 146000 vehicles and rising to eighth place, with sales continuing to recover.

Japanese brands are relatively stable, with no big ups and downs, and Honda is basically flat compared with last year; only FAW Toyota was on the list and fell 5 per cent, although Guangzhou Auto Toyota fell out of the top 15 in February, but sales rose nearly 30 per cent to 97700 vehicles from January to February, thanks to hot sales of Camry, Hanlanda and Leiling models.

Luxury cars are growing faster than mainstream joint venture brands. Brilliance BMW and Beijing Mercedes-Benz both made it into the top 15 in February, with brilliance BMW selling 34701 vehicles, up 10 per cent year-on-year. Beijing Mercedes-Benz's 32000 vehicles rose slightly, rising 11.7 per cent to 90,000 from January to February.

Sales in China's overall auto market are declining, and the continued growth of luxury cars is one of the few bright spots in the downturn. The challenges to the major car manufacturers in 2019 are enormous, and the market status quo of survival of the fittest will continue to be staged.

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