China's vehicle inventory alert index in April grows YoY, MoM

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's vehicle inventory alert index (“VIA”), which reflects the inventory pressure on automobile dealers, climbed 2.8 percentage points month on month in April 2022, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

The VIA stood at 66.4% last month, jumping 10 percentage points from the year-ago period. The index was still above the official warning threshold (50%).

A higher reading indicates weaker market demand and higher inventory pressure. The growth was mainly due to the insufficient market demands, which resulted from such factors as the rise in oil prices, the coronavirus impact, and the sweeping price increase by new energy vehicle makers and some traditional oil-fueled car manufacturers.

To salve the impact of the coronavirus resurgence on dealerships, automakers adopted a slew of measures such as lowering wholesale tasks, stepping up the support in online marketing, and offering subsidies, said the CADA, after making a survey about dealers’ operating conditions.

The sub-index for inventories, market demands, average daily sales, employees and operating conditions in April all dropped compared to the previous month.

Last month, the VIAs of the imported & luxury brands, the mainstream joint-venture brands, and the Chinese indigenous brands reached 61.8%, 67.8%, and 66.5%, rising 4.3, 0.7, and 5.4 percentage points over a month ago respectively, according to the CADA.