CPCA: Retail Sales for Passenger Cars Decreases by 35.5% YoY in April

On Tuesday, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released its National Passenger Car Market Analysis Report for the month of April. Retail sales for the overall passenger car market in April reached 1.042 million vehicles, a decrease of 35.5% year-on-year and 34.0% month-on-month. From January to April, the cumulative retail sales were 5.957 million vehicles, a decrease of 11.9% year-on-year.

In the new energy market, the wholesale volumes of new energy passenger cars reached 280,000 in April, an increase of 50.1% year-on-year but a decrease of 38.5% month-on-month. The decrease was mainly due to the recent epidemic outbreak which impacted development in the industry.

In April, retail sales of new energy passenger cars reached 282,000 vehicles, an increase of 78.4% year-on-year but a decrease of 36.5% month-on-month, which was a departure from the usual trend in April over the years.

According to the CPCA, the new energy automobile market has not been affected by recent price increases as order numbers were sufficient before the increase. In April, the month-on-month trend of new energy automobiles and traditional fuel vehicles was affected by production while the shortage of new energy automobiles intensified, resulting in an order backlog.

The overall trend of new energy passenger car market diverged in April with BYD battery-powered electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles consolidating its leading position in the new energy automobile market. Traditional car companies represented by Chery and GAC are still holding their own in the new energy automobile market.

There were four enterprises whose wholesale volumes exceeded 10,000 units, including BYD with 105,475 vehicles, SAIC-GM-Wuling with 30,020 vehicles, Chery with 15,568 vehicles and GAC AION with 10,212 vehicles. In April, Tesla produced 10,757 vehicles and sold 1,512 vehicles wholesale in China, putting it amongst the ranks of the other big sellers.

The sales volumes of new car companies such as XPeng, Li Auto, NETA, Leapmotor, NIO, and WM Motor generally decreased year-on-year and month-on-month, especially for elite automakers such as XPeng, Li Auto and NIO. However, NETA and Leapmotor performed better.

SEE ALSO: Chinese New Energy Vehicle Companies Announce April Deliveries

According to the CPCA, the automobile industry in Shanghai has been substantially impacted by the recent lockdowns. Since several core components for automobile production are shipped out to other provinces via the Yangtze River Delta, the suspension of Shanghai’s automobile industry has had a great impact on the national automobile industry. CPCA is suggesting that enterprises should strengthen supply chain resilience and enhance supply chain strategic planning, management and execution capabilities in the future.