(Economic Observation) July's auto market is not slow in the off-season, and new energy vehicles are facing a critical node
2024-08-10
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China News Service, Beijing, August 9 (Yin Qianyun) July is the traditional off-season for the auto market. The sales rush of automakers in the first half of the year has come to an end, some manufacturers have taken a high-temperature holiday, and the pace of production and sales has slowed down.
According to data released by the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association (hereinafter referred to as "CPCA"), China's passenger car market retailed 1.72 million vehicles in July, down 2.8% year-on-year and 2.6% month-on-month. Although the month-on-month growth rate has declined, the CPCA said that this is the smallest decline in recent times, and the "off-season" feature of the auto market is becoming more and more obvious.
The new energy vehicle market is still hot. According to the data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's new energy vehicle production and sales maintained rapid growth in July, reaching 984,000 and 991,000 respectively, both up more than 20% year-on-year.
Judging from the sales data released by major automakers, there are also many new breakthroughs. BYD is still the automaker with the best sales performance. It has exceeded 300,000 units in monthly sales for the fifth consecutive month. In July, the sales of new energy vehicles reached 342,383 units, a year-on-year increase of 30.6%.
Among the "new forces" car companies, Ideal Auto ranked first in terms of delivery, with 51,000 vehicles delivered in July, a record high for monthly delivery, a year-on-year increase of 49.4%. NIO delivered more than 20,000 units for three consecutive months. In addition, Xpeng Motors, Nezha Motors, and Xiaomi Motors all maintained delivery volumes of 10,000 to 20,000 units.
Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of the Northern Jiaotong University, believes that despite the off-season for automobile sales, sales performance in July was still good. On the one hand, this was due to the increase in rewards for the newly introduced old-for-new policy; on the other hand, automobile financial policies such as the promotion of new energy vehicles to rural areas and zero down payment car purchases had a positive impact on sales.
In addition to the efforts of new energy vehicle companies on the delivery side, the auto market also reached a critical node in July.
According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, the national passenger car market sold 1.72 million vehicles in July, of which 840,000 were conventional fuel vehicles and 878,000 were new energy vehicles. The domestic new energy vehicle retail penetration rate reached 51.1% that month.
This is the first time that the monthly domestic retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles have surpassed traditional fuel passenger vehicles, and it is also the first time in history that the domestic retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles has exceeded 50% per month.
On May 31, the production workshop of Ideal Auto Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province was busy. Photo by Yang Bo, a reporter from China News Service
The China Passenger Car Association believes that the empowerment of China's manufacturing industry chain advantages, the technological breakthroughs in narrow plug-in hybrid and extended-range electric vehicles, and the country's increased efforts to scrap and update passenger car policies have jointly pushed the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the off-season auto market in July to a new high.
Zhang Xiang said that this means that the pace of new energy vehicles replacing fuel vehicles will be greatly accelerated. The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" previously issued by the General Office of the State Council proposed that by 2025, the sales volume of new energy vehicles will reach about 20% of the total sales volume of new vehicles, "which is much faster than the speed previously planned by the country."
As early as February this year, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu predicted that the monthly penetration rate of new energy vehicles this year will exceed 50%. He believes that the current transformation of the automobile industry has entered a deep water zone, and the development of new energy vehicles will only run faster and faster.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, mentioned that the growth rate of China's new energy passenger vehicles has also been stronger than the world average in recent years. According to statistics from the China Passenger Car Association, China's new energy passenger vehicles will account for more than 63% of the world's share in 2022 and 63.4% of the world's share in 2023. In the second quarter of this year, this share has reached 67%.
Zhang Xiang believes that the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will expand the economies of scale of automakers and further enhance their competitiveness. Other analysts pointed out that the relevant industrial chain will also be developed, including the manufacturing of key components such as batteries, motors, and electronic controls, as well as the construction of charging facilities, which will further promote the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry. (End)
