SAIC Motor posts 21.23% YoY decline in Feb. sales

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- SAIC Motor reported on March 12 that its sales in February amounted to 362,945 units, sliding 21.23% compared with the same period a year ago. For the first two months, it sold a total of 974,447 vehicles with an apparent year-on-year (YoY) drop of 16.92%.

Aside from SAIC Maxus and SAIC-IVECO Hongyan Commercial Vehicle, the other subsidiaries all posted negative year-on-year growth in Feb. sales. Among four carmakers whose sales exceeded 40,000 units in February, SAIC-GM-Wuling, SAIC-GM and SAIC Motor PV all suffered double-digit drop compared with the year-ago period.

As to year-to-date (YTD) sales, only SAIC-IVECO Hongyan Commercial Vehicle achieved a positive increase of 14.45%. SAIC-GM-Wuling saw its Jan.-Feb. sales slide up to 27.05% year on year.

According to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), SAIC Motor obtained four places in the list of top 10 PV makers by Feb. wholesale volume, namely, SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM, SAIC-GM-Wuling and SAIC Motor PV. Especially, SAIC Volkswagen was still the sales champion despite its 8.88% year-on-year decrease.

SAIC Motor's sales in January fell 14.13% from the year-ago period. The automaker attributed the sales decline to the active inventory clearance and optimization over product structure. Regarding the second-month-in-a-row decrease for 2019, some analysts said it has something to do with the Spring Festival.

The Shanghai-based auto giant had said that the auto incentives for rural areas are expected to be implemented in the second quarter to revive the sales performance.