China's annual locally-made PV retail sales grow 1.6% YoY in 2022

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's full-year passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales amounted to 20.824 million units in 2022, edging up 1.6% from the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

For clarity, the passenger vehicles hereby refer to the cars, SUVs, MPVs, and minibuses locally produced in the world's largest auto market.

The CPCA noted that the growth in the annual PV retail sales was significantly attributed to the car purchase tax cut, which resulted in a year-on-year increase of over 1.45 million units for the second half of last year.

In terms of the full-year locally-built PV retail sales, BYD outshone other automakers in China with over 1.8 million PVs retailed. It was also the fastest-growing one among the top 10 carmakers compared to the prior-year period.

In 2022, a total of 23.487 million domestically-built PVs were sold by automakers in China through wholesale channels, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 9.5%.

There were nine automakers whose respective annual PV wholesales all exceeded 1 million units in 2022, most of which scored an upward movement over a year ago.

As for monthly performance, there were 2.193 million homemade PVs retailed across China in Dec. 2022, representing a 2.4% year-on-year increase and a 31.2% month-on-month jump.

The CPCA commented that the ample car inventories remarkably contributed to the robust MoM growth in Dec. retail sales. Nevertheless, a pretty high pressure was still put on the traditional oil-fueled passenger vehicle market, whose retail sales dipped 6% year on year to 1.53 million units last month.

The association added the car consumption demands from lower-/mid-income earners, who are seeking their first cars, stood to be further unleashed, and the government should provide stronger policy supports for the consumption of oil-fueled vehicles.

In Dec., many mainstream automakers stepped up sales promotion to make up for the coronavirus-led sales loss and strive to fulfill their annual sales targets, said the CPCA.

China's luxury PV retail sales reached roughly 260,000 units last month, climbing 6% from the previous year and also rising 10% from the previous month partly due to the car purchase tax reduction.

Chinese indigenous PV brands recorded a combined retail sales volume of 1.06 million units in Dec., indicating a 13% growth from the year-ago period and a 20% jump from a month earlier.

The CPCA's data show that China's local brands accounted for 48.9% of the country's total PV retail volume in Dec., 3.8 percentage points higher than the prior-year level. Through 2022, they made up 47% of China's annual PV retail volume, up 6.1 percentage points compared to 2021.

With about 850,000 PVs delivered last month, mainstream joint ventures in China posted a year-on-year decline of 8%, while logging a month-on-month hike of 59%.

Among the top 10 automakers by Dec. PV retail sales, three companies—Geely Auto,FAW-Toyota, and SAIC-GM-Wuling—all faced a downward movement year-over-year. BYD ranked highest in terms of sales volume, while Changan was honored the fastest-growing one.

China's monthly PV wholesale volume reached 2.257 million units in Dec., falling 6.2% year on year, but growing 9.7% month on month.

With regard to the PV wholesale volume in Dec., BYD and Changan occupied the first two spots among automakers in China, both of which attained a three-digit year-on-year growth. The automakers ranking 3^rd to 10^th all faced a drop from a year earlier.

According to the data compiled by the CPCA, China's passenger vehicle export volume (including complete vehicles and CKDs) amounted to around 260,000 units last month, surging 50% from a year earlier, and also ticking up 3% from the previous month. For the year of 2022, China exported a total of 2.363 million PVs, which leapt 55% from the year-ago period.