China's homegrown PV retail sales grow 7.4% year on year in September

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In September, around 1.939 million locally-produced PVs (referring to cars, MPVs, SUVs and minibuses) were handed over to consumers in China, representing a year-on-year growth of 7.4%, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

For the first three quarters, China's homegrown PV retail sales aggregated 13.152 million units, sliding 12.5% from a year earlier, which were 2.7 percentage points lower than the decrease in the Jan.-Aug. volume.

As of September, China’s PV market had posted around 8% year-on-year growth in retail sales for three consecutive months. According to the CPCA, there were three factors contributing to the successive robust growth in the third quarter. First of all, the better-than-expected recovery in the macro-economic climate and export market stabilized consumers’ confidence. Secondly, the year-ago base number was relatively low due to the implementation of China Ⅵ emission standard in some regions. In addition, the NEV retail sales posted a solid rebound, which continued strengthening the overall PV market.

Compared to August, China’s PV sales jumped 12%, which were lower than the average month-on-month growth of 15% for previous years. According to the CPCA, the phenomenon mainly stemmed from the earlier car shopping spree brought by Chengdu Motor Show 2020 and consumers’ lower-than-expected anticipation over the new products launched at the Auto China 2020. Moreover, the car shopping demands evoked before the National Day Holiday and the Mid-Autumn Festival can hardly eclipse the rigid auto consumption needs before the back-to-school season in September.

In September, the retail sales of China’s self-owned PV brands edged up 1% over the year ago and leapt roughly 16% from the previous month. Such indigenous brands as Hongqi, Changan and NIO all represented vigorous rise, said the association. Joint-venture PV brands recorded a delivery sales growth of 7% and 12% from the year ago and the month ago respectively.

Regarding the Sept. PV retail sales, the top 3 automakers—FAW-VW, SAIC VW and SAIC-GM—remained the same as that of the August. The No.4 and No.5 automakers—Dongfeng Nissan and Geely Auto—got their places swapped compared to the previous month. Great Wall Motor once again entered the top 10 list, moving up to the eighth place.

Premium car brands accounted for around 15% of the country’s Sept. PV sales. According to the CPCA’s data, the retail sales of premium vehicles shot up 33% year on year and climbed 5% month on month thanks to the rising demands of upscale auto replacement coming with consumption upgrades and the greater discounts offered by automakers and dealers.

With regard to the wholesale volume, automakers in China sold 2.097 million domestically produced PVs in September, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%. The Jan.-Sept. PV wholesales dipped 12.5% to 13.351 million units.

Among the top 10 automakers by Sept. PV wholesales volume, the rankings of FAW-VW (No.1), SAIC VW (No.2), SAIC-GM (No.3), Dongfeng Nissan (No.5), Changan Automobile (No.7) and Dongfeng Honda (No.8) remained unchanged over a month ago. SAIC-GM-Wuling climbed two spots to the fourth place, while Geely Auto dropped two places to the sixth.