April passenger vehicle sales rankings: Japan weakened Korean system rebounded

According to the latest sales data released by the CLUCC, in April 2018, the retail sales of narrowly defined passenger cars in China’s auto market reached 1.821 million units, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. The cumulative growth rate of 4.5% from January to March showed a continuous improvement. At the same time, the sales volume of narrow passenger cars was 1.874 million, an increase of 12.3% year-on-year. This was mainly due to the fact that the weaker market in April last year resulted in weaker wholesales than retail destocking adjustments. The CLUCC pointed out that although the relevant VAT tax rate has decreased by 1 percentage point since May 1, the growth rate of batch sales and retail sales in April was not affected by this.

In April, under the influence of the overall auto market, car companies “several families rejoiced”. Gasgo Motors found out through the consolidation of sales data that among the more than 70 car companies that participated in the statistics of the joint venture, a total of more than 40 car companies showed a positive year-on-year growth, and 13 of them had a year-on-year increase of more than 40%. Of course, there are also many companies that have experienced a year-on-year drop in sales during the month, including as many as 12 companies that have fallen by more than 40%. So, how are the specific performance of these car companies? In response, Gasgoo conducted comprehensive statistics based on the statistics of the CUP (sales and sales of narrow-sense passenger car companies) and car companies, and compiled them as follows:

Passenger car sales TOP15: SAIC won the championship, Geely rose to fourth

As can be seen from the data in the above table, the sales volume of TOP15 passenger car makers in April was overall good. Excluding the year-on-year sales decline of Dongfeng Honda, Guangzhou Automobile Honda and FAW Toyota, the other 12 automakers showed positive growth.

The performance of independent brands was remarkable. In the same month, there were 5 autonomous vehicles of Geely Automobile, Changan Automobile, Great Wall Motors, SAIC Motors, and GAC Chuanqi entered the TOP15, achieving positive growth year-on-year. It is worth mentioning that, with the further development of its cars, SUVs, and the high-end brand lead, the Geely Automobile, which had been ranked fifth and sixth, rose to fourth in April. With Roewe and MG two brands helping out, the sales volume of SAIC Motors, another main brand of self-owned brand, reached 62,289 units in April, an increase of nearly 50% compared with the same period of last year, which also made it appear in the 10th place in the list in April. .

Consistent with the previous situation, in the TOP15 list, joint venture car companies still occupy more seats. Among them, SAIC-GM, SAIC-Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen secured the top three, but the rankings have changed. Thanks to the good performance of the Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac models, SAIC GM ranked first in sales with 171,177 units in April. SAIC Volkswagen sold a total of 160,010 new cars in April, a year-on-year increase of 15%. However, it sold nearly 20,000 new cars less than last month, which also caused it to be relocated to SAIC-GM for the month. The same is true for FAW-Volkswagen. Although it has shown year-on-year growth, it has fallen by nearly 20% from last month and is the third highest this month.

The next step was Dongfeng Nissan. The automaker’s sales in April achieved a 13.9% year-on-year increase, ranking it to the fifth place. Due to a rebound in sales in the past two months, Beijing Hyundai’s sales in April showed a year-on-year growth of nearly 100%, which is a rise of two to seventh in the rankings compared with March. Dongfeng Honda, Guangzhou Automobile Honda and FAW Toyota were unsatisfied with their performance and were all missed in the top ten. In addition, GAC Toyota's April sales increased by more than 20% year-on-year, ranking 15th.

Autonomous car prices: SAIC passenger car momentum is good, Beijing Motors fell 40%

Since 2017, Geely has opened all the way. In the past April, Geely sales reached 128,817 units, an increase of 48.5% year-on-year. Accumulated sales for the first four months were 515,113 units, an increase of 40.9% year-on-year, which also enabled Geely to win its own number one seat. According to industry sources, Geely’s continued sales growth is mainly driven by the increase in product strength and the optimization of distribution channels and marketing models. Compared with last year, Chang'an Automobile's performance improved. It increased by 56% year-on-year to 69,633 vehicles in April. However, despite this, it is not a small gap between it and Geely. Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. followed Chang'an Automobile. In April, its sales reached 68,835 units, which was mainly attributed to the increase in sales of new models of the WEY series and sales of the Haval H4 and Haval M6. In the top-notch auto manufacturers' TOP15 rankings, SAIC Motor, GAC Chuanqi, Chery Automobile, BYD, Zhongtai Automobile, and JAC Automobile also achieved positive growth. Zhongtai Automobile had the highest growth year-on-year, followed by SAIC Motor.

At the same time as the above-mentioned car companies harvested bumper sales, some auto makers were frustrated. The Dongfeng Xiaokang, Beiqi Yinxiang, FAW Cars, Dongfeng Qichen, Beijing Automobile and Dongfeng Liuzhou Automobiles ranked 10 to 15 and all exhibited different degrees of decline compared to the same period of last year, including sales and accumulated sales of Beijing Automotive in a single month. The drop is as high as 40%. Although Beijing Auto has always been seeking solutions, it has seen little success so far. It can be seen that in the domestic environment where the competition in the passenger vehicle industry is intensifying, what it has done is still far from enough.

Joint venture car companies: Korean sales rebounded sharply, and the Japanese system as a whole weakened

From the perspective of joint venture passenger vehicle sales TOP15, in addition to Changan Ford and some Japanese brands, other car companies have achieved different degrees of growth compared to the same period last year. In terms of cumulative sales, all other car companies have shown positive growth except for Changan Ford and Dongfeng Honda.

From the above data, it can be clearly seen that the monthly growth rates of Dongfeng Yueda Kia and Beijing Hyundai are relatively high. Among them, Dongfeng Yueda KIA increased by 106.2% year-on-year, and sales in April reached 33,102. Beijing Hyundai was up 100% year-on-year, and sales reached 70,007 units in the month. In 2017, Beijing's Hyundai sales dropped to a low point, and through price reductions, such as the Hyundai ix35, which was launched at a price lower than the price of its own SUV, the new Rena had a price of 49,900 yuan and finally pulled itself out of the Jedi, and the price war was undoubted. The brand image and premium ability will be damaged. The current Chinese brands already have a certain strength. If the Korean department wants sales to return to its peak, it needs to strengthen its core competitiveness.

Among Japanese brands, since December 2017, the Dongfeng Honda CR-V has experienced a problem of “abnormally high oil quality”, which has caused sales of Dongfeng Honda to suffer. In March, its sales volume was 49,000 units, which was a year-on-year decrease. twenty two%. In April, although this effect continued, CR-V sold in less than 2,000 vehicles in April. However, relying on several models other than CR-V, Dongfeng Honda gradually recovered its strength, narrowing down to 11.2%. . In addition, Guangzhou Automobile Honda and FAW Toyota also experienced double-digit declines year-on-year. The performance of Dongfeng Nissan and GAC Toyota are relatively optimistic and both have achieved double-digit growth.

Similarly, as an American brand, Changan Ford did not perform as much as GM. In April, it sold 37,824 vehicles, which was 21.9% lower than the same period of last year. Accumulated sales fell by 33.4% year-on-year. It is understood that after being named by the China Consumers Association on the eve of “3·15”, sales of Changan Ford’s entire line of products continued to fall. According to official data, in the first quarter of 2018, sales of major models such as Fox, Forex, Mondeo, Taurus, Wingbo, Maverick, and Sharp were all lower than in 2017. Although Changan Ford said that it will continue to increase sales through various measures such as improving the product lineage and optimizing the pace of product launch, it is clear that the emergence of results will take time.