China’s Passenger Vehicle Sales Surge 86.5% YoY in April as Price War Cools
Zhang Yushuo
DATE:  May 09 2023
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China’s Passenger Vehicle Sales Surge 86.5% YoY in April as Price War Cools China’s Passenger Vehicle Sales Surge 86.5% YoY in April as Price War Cools

(Yicai Global) May 9 -- Due to a gradual cooling of the heated price war since March and the impact of last year’s low base, wholesale sales in China’s passenger vehicle market reached 1.81 million units in April, jumping 86.5 percent year-on-year, according to a report released by the China Passenger Car Association today.

Among the 11 automakers, whose sales increased by more than 100 percent annually last month, Li Auto delivered 25,681 vehicles, surging by about 516.3 percent from the same period last year, while sales figures for SAIC Motor Corporation’s passenger vehicle unit and the joint venture SAIC-GM exceeded 200 percent, respectively, the report added.

Shenzhen-based electric vehicle manufacturer BYD ranked first with April sales of around 209,000 units, up 98.6 percent annually, followed by FAW-Volkswagen and Changan Auto, which sold 122,000 and 119,000 units, respectively, rising 112.8 and 120.2 percent annually.

The Chinese new energy vehicle market’s wholesale sales tallied 607,000 units last month, rising by 115.6 percent annually, with a penetration rate of 33.9 percent, up 5.9 percentage points from the same period last year.

Eleven NEV manufacturers sold more than 10,000 vehicles each in wholesale last month. BYD, Tesla China and GAC Aion accounted for sales of 209,467, 75,842 and 41,012, respectively.

In April, China exported 300,000 passenger cars, a year-on-year rise of 227 percent, of which NEVs accounted for 30 percent of total exports. Tesla exported 35,886 vehicles to rank first.

The CPCA predicted that May will still see significant year-on-year sales growth due to one more working day than in May 2022 and a low base last year.

According to CPCA data, the revenue of the automotive industry in the first quarter of this year was CNY21.4 trillion (USD3.1 trillion), up 1 percent YoY, with corresponding costs totaling CNY18.7 trillion, an annual increase of 3 percent. Profit was CNY8.2 billion (USD1.2 billion), narrowing by 24 percent yearly.

Compared with the 4.9 percent average profit of industrial enterprises, the profit margin of the auto sector is low. NEVs saw huge growth but also suffered great loss while fuel vehicles are profitable but their gains are shrinking fast.

The CPCA also noted that Tesla’s recent price hikes were a good sign, reflecting automakers’ attention to the quality of operation. This will help alter consumers’ ‘wait-and-see’ attitude, thus making them curb their excessive expectations of price cuts and return to a normal purchase rhythm.

Editor: Peter Thomas

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Keywords:   retail,car,sales,profit