SHANGHAI, Oct 11 (SMM) - According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, the retail sales of passenger cars reached 1.922 million units in September, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%, while the month-on-month growth rate stood at 2.8%, a historical low in the past 20 years. The cumulative retail sales from January to September amounted to 14.875 million units, up 2.4% or 355,000 units on the year. In particular, the sales during June and September increased significantly by 1.43 million units YoY.
The retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 611,000 units in September, a year-on-year increase of 82.9% and a month-on-month increase of 14.7%. The cumulative sales of new energy passenger vehicles in January-September totalled 3.877 million units, up 113.2% from the previous year.
In terms of export, data from CPCA shows that the passenger car exports (including complete vehicles and CKD) in September stood at 250,000 units, up 85% on the year and down 6% on the month. The exports of new energy vehicles accounted for 18.4% of the total. The cumulative exports of passenger vehicles in January-September totalled 1.59 million units, up 60% from the previous year. The vehicle export of independent Chinese brands to European and US markets as well as the third world markets has made an impressive breakthrough, with an export volume of 204,000 units in September, up 88% YoY and up 13% MoM. Meanwhile, the export of international vehicle brands from their bases in China have also seen increasing growth.
It is known that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other three departments concerned have previously announced that the purchase tax exemption on new energy vehicles will be extended to the end of 2023, which further demonstrates that the Chinese government has attached great importance to the promotion of new energy vehicles. According to CPCA, with the policy of halving the purchase tax of vehicles to be implemented soon, more attention of potential consumers have been drawn to purchasing vehicles. Yet, the consumers are still wait-and-see as the car prices are not expected to rise in the short term. Conventionally, the vehicle prices will begin to fall in October when the promotion kicks off. However, the promotional discounts might shrink amid surging sales before the end of the year. Therefore, it is suggest that October is the best time to purchase vehicles.
In terms of new energy vehicles, statistics showed that the car deliveries of many domestic car companies in September, including Nezha, Li Auto, NIO and Xpeng, have achieved a year-on-year increase of more than 20%.
SMM survey suggests that it is currently the peak season for new energy vehicles, which, combined with more favourable subsidy policies for NEV purchase in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, promoted new models of car companies such as Ideal and Xpeng to be launched one after another. Most car makers and distributes launched sales promotion during National Day holiday. For example, Tesla, Xiaopeng, BYD, and Leapmotor all introduced varied promotion incentives such as "zero down payment" to heat up the auto market. The production and sales of NEVs are expected to remain high in the near future.
