Abstract:
On November 11, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "China Association of Automobile Manufacturers") released October automobile industry production and sales data. In October, the "cold inside and hot outside" operating trend of the automobile market continued. Domestic market demand has been insufficiently released, automobile exports have maintained strong resilience, and the proportion of new energy vehicle sales has further increased.
Data show that in October, car sales were 3.016 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 9.2%. Among them, domestic sales were 1.95 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 26.6%; exports were 1.066 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 60.2%. Monthly exports have exceeded 1 million vehicles for five consecutive months.
From January to October, automobile sales totaled 26.286 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.1%. Among them, domestic sales totaled 17.014 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 22.9%; exports totaled 9.271 million units, a year-on-year increase of 65.1%.
New energy vehicles continue to grow. In October, new energy vehicle sales were 1.94 million, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%, and new car sales accounted for 64.3% of total vehicle sales. From January to October, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles were 14.411 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%, and the sales volume accounted for 54.8%.
As for the current operation of the automobile market, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said that since the beginning of this year, China's economy has been moving forward despite pressure, making steady progress, and has withstood the test of various external shocks. Economic growth has remained within a reasonable range, the driving role of new kinetic energy has continued to increase, and the macro economy has shown strong resilience and vitality. The performance of automobile exports and new energy vehicle markets has provided strong support for the smooth operation of the industry.
However, from the domestic market, automobile consumption is still facing greater pressure. Since the beginning of this year, due to the combined effects of multiple factors, domestic automobile sales have continued to decline, with year-on-year declines exceeding 20% for seven consecutive months. Looking at the full-year trend, the China Automobile Association predicts that domestic passenger car sales will be less than 19 million units in 2026, the first time it has been below this level since 2014, reflecting that the domestic automobile consumer market is still facing great pressure.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers mentioned that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made arrangements to carry out various tasks at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, make good use of macro policies, and deeply tap the potential of domestic demand, providing policy support for the smooth operation of the automobile industry. However, the current domestic automobile market has not yet been effectively improved, and the contradiction between strong supply and weak demand is still prominent. It is still necessary to promote the coordinated efforts of stock policies and incremental policies to stabilize market expectations and boost consumer confidence.
In the export market, the uncertainty of the external trade environment is also increasing. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers pointed out that the current impact of external shocks on the automobile industry is deepening, and there are many uncertainties in foreign trade. Among them, the EU launched an investigation into safeguard measures for hybrid vehicles, which will restrict the export of relevant Chinese models to Europe; at the same time, the reduction of automobile export tax rebates will also affect corporate profit margins.
Although automobile exports increased by 60.2% year-on-year in October, continuing the rapid growth momentum this year, as overseas trade policies and market environments change, corporate export businesses are also facing new challenges. How to maintain the growth of export scale while coping with trade barriers and stabilizing overseas operating income will become the next problems that automobile companies need to face.
In addition, industry profitability is still at a low level. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers pointed out that the current contradiction between strong supply and weak demand in the automobile industry is still prominent, the industry's profit level is still at a low level, and the overall operation is facing greater pressure. In the next stage, it is necessary to promote the coordinated efforts of existing policies and incremental policies to stabilize market expectations, boost consumer confidence, and further release the potential of domestic automobile consumption.
Comments